Elizabeth Jackson and the Magician's Maze
by bfalt1
Summary: (Book 3 of 5) Things have never been more difficult for Elizabeth. War has truly broken out between the camps and Gaius's army, yet trivial squabbles seem to plague the demigods' war effort. The demititans themselves continue to be elusive, most often using monsters to carry out their dirty work. Meanwhile, Elizabeth has to deal with personal issues... (full sum inside) COMPLETE
1. Chapter 1: My Jacket Gets Singed

**AN: Hello everybody! I'm back with the third installment in the Elizabeth Jackson series! I am so excited to be bringing you guys this one. Okay, let me back up. For those of you who don't know me, hi. The name's bfalt1, and I write Percy Jackson stuff. Mainly I've been focusing on this Elizabeth Jackson series. This is book 3. If you want to read this one, you should go read the previous two first. Book 1 is called Elizabeth Jackson and the Stolen Goddess and book 2 is called Elizabeth Jackson and the Missing Prophecy. So to avoid spoilers, go read those first. Also, I have a short one-shot collection based on Elizabeth Jackson characters called Elizabeth Jackson One-Shots (super original title). You don't have to read those to understand this book, but I encourage you to go check them out.**

 **If you're still here, then you've read the previous two books, so welcome back! Before we get any further, here's the full summary for this book.**

Things have never been more difficult for Elizabeth. War has truly broken out between the camps and Gaius's army, yet trivial squabbles seem to plague the demigods' war effort. The demititans themselves continue to be elusive, most often using monsters to carry out their dirty work. Meanwhile, Elizabeth has to deal with personal issues, too, such as an increase in the arguing between herself and her boyfriend and handling the panic attacks she's started getting since the end of last summer. In the midst of all of this, Nico di Angelo arrives and delivers Elizabeth some news. Gaius is heading into the New Labyrinth, the maze that Pasiphae created in Epirus, the House of Hades. It has spread out under the world, and Pasiphae is still alive deep within the maze. Nico believes that Gaius may be seeking the sorceress's help with a mysterious and unknown piece of magic. He wants Elizabeth to go into the Labyrinth and take out Pasiphae before Gaius can get to her. If she succeeds, it could give the demigods an important edge in the war against Gaius. But can Elizabeth succeed with her sanity and, more importantly, her life intact, especially since the Oracle's prophecy seems to predict she'll fail?

 **Exciting stuff!**

 **Also, make sure you post any questions you have in reviews, because I will answer them in the next chapter - even if my answer is just "spoilers." I may also address other reviews at the start of each chapter. So before we keep going, I'll address a couple of reviews from book 2 that I haven't gotten the chance to respond to yet.**

 **From DarkAngelofHeavens: "** **I look forward to the 3rd book. Perhaps I'm even more anxious to read how Elizabeth will change. I imagine you're trying to write this story as real as possible. And since no one remains the same after going trough something as traumatizing as losing an arm, I imagine she will become a little more "dark". Tougher. Sharper. Maybe even more powerful. Am I wrong?"  
A: Elizabeth's character will definitely change as a result of what happened at the end of last book, but telling you exactly how would be a spoiler.**

 **Also from DarkAngelofHeavens: "By the way, have I mentioned that I love the fact that you made all of your stories take part in the same world? Smart girl. (Wait. You are a girl, right? Because I've always had the impression that you were... Talk about awkward.)"  
A: Thanks for the compliment. I really like having a unified canon for all my stories. As for whether or not I'm a girl... sorry, I don't really want to answer that. I enjoy operating under pretty much complete anonymity. I know telling you whether I'm a guy or a girl wouldn't REALLY tell you much of anything at all, but knowing myself, even sharing something that small would lead to me telling you guys all sorts of other things about me.**

 **From The Amazing Alto: "I have a feeling that Jake likes Theo and possibly vice-versa.** **In theory their ship name could be Jaeo or Theake but I personally like Jaeo better."  
A: I like Jaeo better, too.**

 **From an anonymous guest: "so, have you read The Fault in Our Stars? Because there are two characters, Hazel Grace and Augustus Waters, I think, and it struck me as funny. Just a question though."  
A: I have read TFIOS, and I absolutely love that book. The book is part of the reason I gave Augustus his name, among some other reasons.**

 **Wow. That is way too much from me. At any rate, I hope you all had a lovely holiday season, and now, finally, on with the show. DFTBA!**

 **Disclaimer for story: I am not Rick Riordan (duh) and thus do not own PJO or HOO (also duh).**

 **Disclaimer for cover: The original art was from a couple different places. The background was just a google image search of "Percy Jackson Labyrinth," and I picked one I liked. The figures were from a piece of art by Viria which I recolored and edited onto the new background.**

 **Rating: T for violence, language, and some suggestive themes.**

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Elizabeth Jackson and the Magician's Maze

Chapter 1: My Favorite Jacket Gets Singed

My day was turning out like the start to a bad joke. _Did you hear the one about the Laistrygonian, the Hyperborean, and the Earthborn?_ No? You haven't heard that one? Well trust me, it's no good.

I went flying, smashing through the front door of the worn down warehouse in Brooklyn the three unlikely roommates called home and tumbled to the street. I groaned as I climbed to my feet. That was really going to hurt in the morning. I brandished my celestial bronze knife – my third one in as many years – as the ugly six armed Earthborn came stomping into the street. He was so ugly, not even his momma could possible love that face. There was also the stench. His long hair was matted and unwashed, with bits of garbage in it. That combined with the fact that he had six armpits, and I was pretty sure he could scare off an entire stadium of diehard Yankees fans in the middle of a Yankees-Sox game.

"Hey big guy," I said, trying my best to breathe through my mouth. "What say we call this whole fight thing off, eh? Let bygones be bygones?"

The Earthborn responded by roaring at me, then scooping six huge chunks out of the sidewalk like they were made of mud. What few mortals were out and about on this particular side street ran off screaming. As usual, I vaguely wondered what they saw through the Mist. Maybe they saw a burly guy with pies. That had happened before.

The monster threw his rocks at me, one at a time. Stupid really, since that gave me time to dodge them. I rolled, ducked, and dived out of the way of the first five, but unfortunately, my last roll brought me right into the path of the sixth boulder. There was no way to dodge it. So I did the first thing that came to mind. I dropped my knife and held my gloved right fist out in front of me. The chunk of cement shattered against my hand, ripping up the glove, and spraying me and the pavement with dust and tiny chunks of cement.

"Son of a bitch!" I swore loudly, temporarily blinded by the pain of smashing the chunk of sidewalk.

The monster used my distraction to his advantage and lifted me up in all six hands, squeezing me like a vice. And, of course, I'd just dropped my knife a few seconds before. The Earthborn laughed stupidly. I had only a few moments before he literally squeezed the life out of me, at which point I could only assume he'd use me for jam, since that was about the consistency my corpse would be. Luckily, my right hand, whilst in unbelievable pain, was loose.

I pulled off the damaged leather glove with my teeth, revealing my celestial bronze right hand. I cocked back the metal fist and punched the Earthborn hard in the face. He burst apart into mud, and I dropped to the ground, gasping for air.

"Why," I panted, looking accusingly at my metal hand, "in the name – of Poseidon's – sweaty underpants – did Jake make – you able – to feel pain?" It didn't respond. I flexed my fingers to make sure they were still working, then scooped up my knife.

I turned back towards the warehouse. "Now where are the other two roommates?" I wondered aloud.

My question was answered as a flaming bronze cannonball rocketed out of one of the boarded up windows. I rolled away just in time, the flaming sphere missing me by inches. I felt the heat searing on my back. Had I not been wearing the jacket, my back probably would've ended up with so many blisters that I'd look like someone with skin cancer.

The wall to the abandoned building burst apart as the third roommate, the Hyperborean giant, exited onto the street, the temperature dropping about twenty degrees all around him. Following close behind was the Laistrygonian.

I looked at my knife. _Of course_ I'd brought my knife. I'd wanted to be inconspicuous. Now I was cursing that decision. Gods, I wished I had my sword.

The Hyperborean breathed out a stream of icy mist at me. I rolled forward under the ice, narrowly avoiding getting turned into an Elizabeth-flavored Popsicle. I came to my feet and ran forward, trying to get close enough to the thirty foot giant to stab him with my comparatively puny knife. Unfortunately, the Hyperborean's Laistrygonian roommate defended his friend by chucking another flaming cannonball at me. I was forced to abandon my attack by diving to the side. The cannonball exploded against a storefront across the street, leaving a massive crater in the building. I winced. Luckily, the mortals had already abandoned the area, but I seriously doubted their insurance covered monster attacks.

The wail of sirens approached quickly. My mind whirled around. I knew I had to finish off these monsters fast. Not only would these monsters prove a threat to the mortal police, but also I really didn't feel like having to answer tricky questions like _What are you doing here? Why are there huge craters in the road and buildings? Why is your right hand so shiny?_ And I really wasn't in the mood for any of that.

The trouble was, my two monstrous opponents made surprisingly good teammates. Each time I got close enough to stab Mr. Freeze, I could expect a flaming cannonball coming right at me. If I went for the hot stuff, I could expect a sudden snowstorm in the middle of the early June day.

 _This is getting me nowhere_ , I thought, surprising even myself by launching into a backflip to avoid a cannonball. From the sounds of the sirens, the emergency workers were a block away, at most. I needed to buy myself time, and there was only one way to do that.

"Hey assholes!" I yelled at the monsters. "The décor in your house sucked!" The most clever thing I'd ever said? No. But the Hyperborean and the Laistrygonian had about as much brains between them as a potato.

The monsters roared and charged me. I turned and ran off down the street, drawing the monsters away from the sirens. Unfortunately, that only solved one problem. True, I was keeping away from the cops for at least a little longer, but on the other hand I had still had two monsters trying to kill me. Worse, I had two monsters trying to kill me because I'd insulted their _décor_.

What I really needed was some kind of projectile weapon. I could hit the monsters from a distance without worrying about their double-team protection. Unfortunately, a) I had no projectile weapon and b) I was a pretty terrible shot. My friend Theo, son of Apollo, was good with a bow. My other friend, Jocelyn, daughter of Hermes, was good with a pistol. The only thing I could shoot was hoops. Unless you counted the bursts of energy I could blast from my trident, which I didn't have with me, and which hardly counted because the weapon was magical. The thing probably helped me aim without me even realizing it.

 _Then again_ , a piece of me argued, _there are people who throw knives._ That was true, but did I really want to throw away my blade again? And even if I did, what chance did I have of actually hitting my mark?

Maybe if I prayed _really_ hard to whatever god oversaw knife throwing. But which god was that? I decided to shoot Hermes a prayer. The guy was a jack of all trades. If there wasn't a specific god for a thing, it was a safe bet that Hermes was the god of it. _Hey, Hermes_ , I thought as I skidded around a corner into a narrow alley. _I know we've never really spoken, but my dad always liked you and I'm best friends with your daughter, so if you could help me with this knife throw, I'd be real grateful._

I came to a halt and turned. The Hyperborean stood at the mouth to the alley. I tossed my knife. Either Hermes had answered my prayer or I was just incredibly lucky in that moment, because the knife embedded itself in the Hyperborean's stomach. The giant looked down at the tiny blade. "Uh oh," he said stupidly, then he burst apart into a bunch of icicles. That was the good news. The bad news was my knife also froze and shattered.

"You've got to be kidding me! Again?!"

The Laistrygonian appeared at the end of the alley and roared. The sirens were catching up again. I had no weapon. The Laistrygonian had a flaming bronze sphere in each hand, and a satchel containing more of the projectiles slung over his back. So at that point I did what any sane person would do. I continued to run.

I came to the end of the alley and emerged onto a busy street – a sign informed me that it was Old Fulton Street – that apparently hadn't gotten the memo about whatever dangerous thing the mortals thought was going on.

"What's all that racket coming from down there?" a passerby asked.

"Run!" I said, trying to look frightened, which wasn't very hard. "There's a lunatic with a grenade launcher and he's coming this way!"

Helpfully, one of the Laistrygonian's cannonballs came flying out from the alley, just narrowly missed a bus, and then blew a hole in the sidewalk across the street. My suggestion took. People screamed and ran, yelling about a lunatic with a grenade launcher. People abandoned their cars, leaving the street packed. I sprinted off through the chaos, weaving between the panicked pedestrians, heading towards the East River. If I could lure the monster close enough to the water, I could use my powers to beat him.

The Laistrygonian emerged from the alley and looked around, confused. I yelled from the other side of the street, "This way you big moron!"

He spotted me. "Demigod! You will pay for insulting my décor and killing my friends!"

"I'm not a demi – oh never mind," I grumbled, resigning myself to the fact that monsters would never learn the difference between demigods and legacies.

I continued running, trying to lead the monster towards Brooklyn Bridge Park. I weaved between the abandoned cars as I made my way up Old Fulton Street. News about a maniac with a grenade launcher had travelled quickly. It had been maybe a minute, yet this entire area of Brooklyn had turned into a ghost town. Also, the abandoned cars were delaying the police, keeping them out of the way, so that was good. Although it was only a matter of time before the police helicopters got scrambled.

A car just to my right crumpled as one of the flaming cannonballs hit it. I dove away, but I didn't get far enough before the car exploded. I went flying and slammed into the side of a building, my leather jacket on fire.

I ripped the jacket off and cursed. That had been my favorite jacket. Now my entire right arm was exposed. The upper part of my arm was normal, but just above my elbow there was a silver ring. Beyond that ring, the rest of the arm was made out of celestial bronze, layered in a bunch of small plates.

I continued to dash down the street, ignoring the ringing in my ears or the blood oozing from my left temple where my head had hit the building. More cars exploded behind me, but none close enough to send me flying like a rag doll. Still, the ground shook, and I was sure that a lot of people were going to be unhappy when they found out their cars were blackened husks. _Plus their insurance is gonna skyrocket._

 _Insurance jokes? Is that my new thing now?_

Finally, I reached the end of Old Fulton Street and made it into Brooklyn Bridge Park. The famous bridge loomed on the right. Towards the back of the park was a playground, and just beyond that was the East River. I skidded to a stop and turned, my back to the river. The Laistrygonian, seeing me apparently trapped (because no one in their right mind would swim in the filthy East River; even on threat of death), approached slowly, laughing. He knocked aside the swing set with a single hand as he moved towards me. "You fought well!" he said. "It will be a true honor to eat such a worthy adversary!"

"Oh good," I said. "I've always wanted to honor someone by being their meal."

The Laistrygonian cocked back his arm, ready to throw one last cannonball at me. I felt a tug in my gut as I prepared to call up the water behind me. Unfortunately, neither of us got to do what we wanted. There was a sudden gust of wind. Then, out of nowhere, a fifteen year old boy dropped out of the sky, landing on the Laistrygonian's face and driving a sword straight through the monster's forehead. He exploded into dust.

I cursed. Great, just great. "What do you think you're doing?" I yelled.

The boy stood up and sheathed his sword. He was incredibly good looking, with messy brown hair, sky blue eyes, and perpetually tan skin due to his one-quarter Cherokee blood. He was quite tall, and was built like a quarterback; muscular, but not hulking.

It was Augustus Grace, my boyfriend. And it didn't matter how good looking he was. He was in trouble.

Gus looked completely perplexed. "What do you mean? You looked like you were in trouble, so I helped you out."

"I can handle myself," I snapped. "I had the situation under control. Why do you think I led the Laistrygonian over to the river?"

"I know you can handle yourself," Gus said defensively, but forcefully. "But that doesn't mean you don't need help with monsters when you're in a tight spot. And it looked like you were in a tight spot."

"How did you even know where I was?" I asked. "Have you been following me? Making sure poor broken Elizabeth doesn't get hurt again?"

"No, of course not!" Gus said, his voice rising. "I was flying over the area and saw what was going on. Decided to stop and help."

I scoffed. "Likely story. You know, ever since I lost my arm you've been way overprotective of me, and I'm sick of it."

"This isn't about your hand," Gus insisted.

I rolled my eyes. "Of course it isn't," I muttered sarcastically.

Gus groaned in exasperation. "Look, I'm sorry about taking your kill. I didn't realize that monster was so important to you."

"It's more the principle of the matter." We stood across from each other, standing in tense silence. I waited for Gus to respond, for the argument to keep going.

Instead, he said, "Do you want a lift home?"

I almost said that I'd rather take the subway, but I didn't. Gus was trying to make a gesture, put our argument behind us. Even if I was still angry, I still felt like I should recognize the gesture. "Sure, thanks," I mumbled.

I walked over to him and allowed him to wrap his arms around me, pulling me into a tight hug, the best way to keep me stable while he flew. "Ready?" Gus asked.

"Mmm," I mumbled into his chest, refusing to look up at his face for fear that he might try to kiss me. I was not in the mood for a kiss.

Around us the winds gathered and we took off. I tried to crane my head around to get a good view of the City skyline. I loved the view from up high. I rarely got to be flying through the air. As a descendant of Poseidon, Zeus would surely knock me out of the sky if I ventured too high. The only times I ventured into the air were with Gus or on the backs of pegasi back at Camp Half-Blood. Unfortunately, the way I was positioned made it difficult for me to see much of anything.

After a short flight, we touched down on the balcony of my family's penthouse apartment. I stepped away from Augustus. "Thanks for the lift," I said flatly.

"You're welcome," Gus said. He leaned in to kiss me, but I stopped him with a finger to his lips.

"Not in the mood," I said.

Gus frowned. "Um, okay. Well, I guess I'll see you at camp tomorrow." Tomorrow the summer session at Camp Half-Blood would begin, and despite the war we were now embroiled in, I was really excited to get back. But I was still mad at Gus.

"Bye," I said shortly.

Gus took off, looking disappointed, and flew away towards his own apartment, only a block away. I sighed, a feeling of guilt coming over me. Now that my temper had died down, I realized how unfair I'd been to Augustus. About two years ago, just after my first quest, Athena, my grandmother, had warned me that impulsivity was my fatal flaw, especially when it was paired with my admittedly quick temper. I knew the fatal bit in fatal flaw meant that it could very well cost me my life someday, but I didn't know it meant it would make my love life so difficult.

 _I'll make it up to him when I see him tomorrow_ , I thought.

I turned around to enter my family's apartment. I pushed open the glass doors. I expected to find my dad home alone, maybe playing video games, since Mom would still be at work, so I was surprised to hear raised voices. Or rather, one voice was raised. The other was calm. I made my way around the corner to see two people at the dining room table. One was my dad, Percy Jackson. His messy black hair was sticking up, like he'd run his hands through it in frustration. He was facing away from me, but based on his tense body language, I was pretty sure his sea green eyes were narrowed at the man sitting across from him.

The other man was Nico di Angelo, who looked much calmer. His shaggy hair, also black, had grown out a bit. His skin was very pale as usual, but that didn't mean he was distressed. Since he was the son of Hades, his skin was always pale. He wore a black leather jacket over a _Dia de los Muertos_ t-shirt, and I felt a stab of sadness at losing my own jacket earlier. I mean, I had another one, but I didn't like it quite as much.

Neither of them had noticed me yet.

"Absolutely not!" yelled Dad.

"It's not up to you, Percy," Nico replied evenly. "The choice is not yours to make."

"You know what she'll say," Dad snapped back. "She's become obsessed with proving herself recently. I don't want you giving her that option." My skin tingled. They were arguing about me?

I decided it was time to announce my presence. "Give who what option?" I asked innocently.

My father jumped and looked over at me, a slightly guilty look on his face. "Oh hey, honey. You're home early. I didn't hear you come in."

"Gus gave me a lift so I didn't have to take the Subway," I explained impatiently. "What were you guys talking about?"

"Oh, nothing," Dad said. I felt a stab of anger and annoyance. I'd heard them arguing. Did he really think I was that stupid?

Before I could start an argument with my father, and subsequently get myself in trouble, Nico said sternly, "Percy, you know that telling her is the right thing to do."

Dad sighed. He slumped in defeat. I felt my eye twitch. "Tell me _what_?" I asked, annoyed.

"It's about the Labyrinth," Nico said. He glanced me over, taking in my dirty clothes, my exposed metal hand, and the dried blood on the side of my face. "Why don't you go clean yourself up. Then we'll talk."

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 **AN: I hope you guys enjoyed the first chapter of the Magician's Maze! As with my last two books, I will be trying to maintain a twice-a-week upload schedule, so I will see you guys on either Friday or Saturday with chapter 2!**


	2. Chapter 2: Nico Offers Me a Job

**AN: Hey guys! So first of all, I want to say a HUGE thank you for all of the positive feedback I've gotten on just the first chapter of this new book. I'm glad you guys like it so much! There's definitely more good stuff to come! First thing's first, though, it's time to respond to reviews.**

 **WiseGirlGeek: "** **This seems a bit like a recreation of the Battle of The Labyrinth... But it's the third book... So, ugh, I just needed to say that."  
A: Don't worry, there will definitely be some important differences between Battle of the Labyrinth and this book. But there will also definitely be some similarities, too. This is intentional on my part. One of the themes throughout the Percy Jackson and Heroes of Olympus series is the cyclical nature of the Greco-Roman myths. Stuff that happened to heroes millenia ago happens again to Percy and the gang. I'm continuing on with this trend in my own series, and you can find parallels between PJO, HOO, and Elizabeth Jackson in the previous books too. But don't you worry, there will be plenty of things to distinguish this book from Battle of the Labyrinth.**

 **WiseGirlGeek: "So, are the other Roman Legacies going to make an appearance? Because that would be cool. And Are Frank & Hazels kids going to be a part in the series at all, or are they just there for being... Well their?"  
A: I'm not 100% certain what you mean in the first part of your question. But I'll do my best to answer it. You will definitely meet/get to know more Romans and see more from the legacies that ended up going to Camp Jupiter. For instance, Matt and Sierra will both reappear in this book (Matt's on the cover, so you can expect him to have a pretty important role in this book). You'll also meet Reyna's daughter in this book. And yes, Frank and Hazel's kids will be in this series. You'll meet the older of the two in this book and the younger of the two in the next book.**

 **AnamariaJovel: "It just occurred to me now, and this really has nothing to do with the stories but, how old are the original crew now? You may have mentioned this before but I just thought like, how old are Nico and the others?"  
A: There's a short answer and a long answer to this. I'll give you the short answer, but if you'd like the longer answer let me know and I'll be happy to provide! So at the start of this book Percy: 42 (turns 43 in August), Annabeth: 42 (turns 43 in July), Jason: 41 (turns 42 in July), Piper: 42, Leo: 42, Calypso: 3000+, Frank: 42 (just barely), Hazel: 38 (turns 39 in December), Reyna 42, Nico 40.**

 **AnamariaJovel: "Also, are we ever going to hear from Frazel in this series? Again really it has nothing to do with Elizabeth or her story, but I'm a bit curious as to where they've been, (with the addition of Caleo) thanks!"  
A: Yes, you will see Frazel and Caleo in this series. In fact, you'll see every major PJO/HOO character at some point in this series (unless they're dead, e.g. Octavian), even if it's just a minor appearance. Frank and Hazel live out in California. That combined with the fact the Elizabeth is at Camp Half-Blood or on a quest for Camp Half-Blood for the majority of the two previous books is why you haven't seen them yet. Same thing applies to Leo and Calypso, who are based in Texas. I definitely have thought out what happens to every major character between the end of Blood of Olympus and the Elizabeth Jackson series and what role they'll have to play in this series. Maybe sometime I'll write up a couple of paragraphs about each major character and give a general account of what happens with them between BOO and the Stolen Goddess and post it.**

 **Okay, that'll sum up my review responses. Keep the questions coming and I'll do my best to answer them next time! Enjoy the chapter! DFTBA!**

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Chapter 2: Nico Offers Me a Job

I tromped upstairs to my bathroom and examined the wound on the side of my face. It wasn't actually that bad, it had just bled a lot. I washed off the blood as best I could in the sink, then I pulled the first aid kit out from under it. I had never been great at first aid. I usually left that to kids of Apollo. But I knew enough basics to patch up the cut on my temple. I liberally applied the antiseptic, wincing slightly. Then I bandaged it awkwardly with a small piece of gauze and some medical tape. I looked at my reflection, examining my handiwork. Sloppy, but good enough.

Next it was time to do something about my hair, which looked like someone had tried to twirl it around a fork like spaghetti, then spat it out after realizing that spaghetti was not supposed to be black. I ran a brush through my hair to tug out the knots, then threw it into a ponytail.

Finally, it was time to do something about my dirty clothes. I went across the hall into my room. A half packed suitcase sat at the foot of my bed, full of black and grey items. The only color in the bag came from the orange camp t-shirts. I discarded my dirty clothes into the laundry hamper in the corner, then pulled a black tank top and grey jeans out of my bag. Next I went over to my closet and pulled out my spare leather jacket and a matching extra glove, still mourning the loss of my favorite one.

I turned and glanced at the full length mirror on the back of my door. "Good enough," I muttered.

I turned and left my room. I hesitated slightly before heading back downstairs, then turned towards Matt's bedroom. I pushed the door open and looked around the unoccupied space. Everything was much neater than it had ever been when Matt was actually living in the room. Seriously, my brother had been messier than Groucho from Sesame Street, and Groucho had lived in a garbage can. Now though, his room was neat and orderly. The books on the bookshelves were straightened. Nothing littered the floor or the bedside table. The bed was perfectly made.

I sighed. I really missed my brother. Last summer he'd started going to Camp Jupiter, so I'd hardly gotten to see him. Unlike Camp Half-Blood, where you could choose whether or not to be a year-rounder, being a member of the Twelfth Legion was a full time gig. As a result, after the summer ended and I'd come home, Matt had stayed at Camp Jupiter. He didn't get much time off. The last time I'd seen my little brother had been back at Christmas. He hadn't even been able to come home for my fifteenth birthday in April.

Matt and I had been really close. We were only a year apart, and had gotten along remarkably well. But now, living across the country from each other, it was hard to maintain the same closeness we'd enjoyed when both of us were living at home. Sure, we texted pretty frequently, but that wasn't nearly the same as being in person.

Still, with any luck, I'd see him in a couple of weeks. Camp Half-Blood and Camp Jupiter made it a point to visit each other, especially for important events. And pretty soon, Camp Jupiter would be celebrating the Feast of Fortuna. The last couple of years, I hadn't gone on the Camp Half-Blood trip to the Feast. My first summer, I'd gotten back from a quest only a couple days prior, and my second summer…

At any rate, I was determined to go to the Feast of Fortuna this year. One of Camp Jupiter's Praetors, a daughter of Apollo I'd never met, had retired recently, and on June twenty-fourth – the day of the Feast – they'd be electing a new one. My friend, Sierra Grace, was running for the position. I wanted to be there to see how it went. Hopefully celebrate with her.

But it was hard to know for sure if I'd be able to make it. I'd had pretty rotten luck when it came to going on dangerous quests early in the summer. And this year we were officially at war with Gaius and his demititan army.

 _Suddenly he spat in my face. I yelped, shutting my eyes reflexively, but not nearly soon enough. Hs saliva got in my eyes, stinging and blinding me. The pressure of his sword against mine was gone. I stumbled forward a half-step, still blind, and raised my sword. Then there was a sickening_ fwip _sound, and a thud as something heavy hit the roof of the car next to my right foot._

I gritted my teeth, gripping the door frame. My chest seized up, constricting like someone was tightening a belt around my lungs. I gasped, trying to force air into the feeble organs. Sweat trickled down the back of my neck. My legs wobbled beneath me. "Not again," I groaned through my gritted teeth. I knew what this was. Just after I'd gotten my first one, my parents had taken me to see Will Solace, a friend of the family, Nico's husband, and a doctor.

 _"Well it sounds like a panic attack,"_ he'd said after I described it.

 _"A panic attack?"_ I'd asked incredulously.

Will had nodded. _"Yeah. It's not uncommon for people to develop anxiety disorders or panic attacks after going through a traumatic experience. I'll prescribe you some anti-anxiety medication, but it won't solve the problem. I think the best thing for it is to go see a therapist."_

The trouble was, I couldn't exactly explain the source of my anxiety problems to a mortal therapist. It was hard to explain to someone that my panic attacks happened because a guy named Gaius, who happened to be the son of Kronos – you know, the most evil character from Greek mythology – had chopped off most of my right arm. If I tried to tell a mortal therapist that, he'd probably lock me in a padded cell. And as for going to a demigod therapist – well no one seemed to know any demigod therapists.

Some days were better than others. Some days I could think about Gaius for hours, trying to figure out what exactly he was up to. Other days if his name so much as crossed my mind I'd drop into a panic attack instantly. And then there was everything in-between. The trouble was, I couldn't tell the good days from the bad ones until I was already having a panic attack.

I staggered across the hall, trying to reign in my increasingly spiraling emotions, slamming the door to Matt's room shut behind me. I went into my bathroom and, with fumbling fingers, opened the small bottle containing my anti-anxiety meds. I hated taking them. I didn't want to have to rely on the medications. But when I was in the middle of a panic attack, I always regretted not taking them earlier. Granted, the meds didn't always prevent me from getting panic attacks even when I did take them in advance, but they certainly helped me stay in charge of my emotions.

I popped the pills in my mouth and sank to the floor, waiting for them to kick in. Meanwhile, the fight on the highway – where Gaius had chopped my arm off – replayed over and over in my head.

I hated what Gaius had done to me, and I didn't just mean cutting off my arm. He'd turned my own mind against me. Before the fight on the highway, my mind had been one of my greatest assets. As a granddaughter of Athena, I understood the importance of the mind. But now my mind was a minefield. The slightest misstep could set me off. Ever since the panic attacks started I'd felt weak and vulnerable – like I really needed to feel even weaker than the loss of my arm had made me feel. I wasn't just broken physically anymore. I was broken mentally and emotionally.

I sat alone on the cold bathroom floor, waiting for the panic attack to subside. And it would. They always did. Thankfully, my parents had learned not to bother me while I was having a freak out like this. The first couple of panic attacks I'd gotten, Mom and Dad had rushed to my side, trying to help me in any way they could. But trying to help me only made me feel worse: weak, helpless, and unable to take care of myself. Usually, their "assistance" only made the panic attacks last longer. So after a while they'd learned to leave me be. I was determined that if I was going to handle it, I was going to do it on my own.

Finally the images of Gaius in my head faded. My emotions normalized. I stood up slowly, catching my breath. I looked in the mirror again. My grey eyes looked sunken. My skin was even paler than usual. I still shook in the aftermath of the panic attack. My stomach felt queasy. A brief surge of anger ran through me and I almost punched out the bathroom mirror. It wouldn't be the first time. But the anger drained just as quickly. "You're a mess," I said to my reflection. I filled up the cup by the sink and gulped down some water. I took a few more deep breaths, resolved not to go downstairs until I was one hundred percent.

* * *

By the time I made it downstairs, Mom had gotten home from work. I looked quite a bit like her. The only major difference between our appearances was our hair color: Mom's was blonde, but my own was black. She sat at the dining room table with Dad and Nico, the two of which had apparently resumed their argument quietly while I was upstairs.

I strode over to the table and sat down, clearing my throat as I did so. "You wanted to tell me something?" I asked Nico, not willing to beat around the bush or delay the conversation any longer. "You mentioned the Labyrinth?"

Dad opened his mouth, no doubt to object or keep arguing with Nico but Mom cut across him. "Percy, that's enough. Elizabeth at least has the right to hear what Nico has to say. And remember, she's older than we were when we went in." Dad shut his mouth, but his jaw was tense like he was angry.

"You want to send me into the Labyrinth?" I asked.

"Let's not get ahead of ourselves," Nico said. "There's a lot I have to explain first. First things first, what do you _know_ about the Labyrinth, Elizabeth?"

"Well," I said slowly, "the original Labyrinth was in Crete. Or at least, it started in Crete. Daedalus made it for King Minos, who then imprisoned him inside his own maze after Theseus killed the Minotaur."

"And ran off with his daughter," Mom inserted.

"Right," I said. "Anyway, he escaped eventually. After various misadventures, Daedalus returned to the Labyrinth, which had continued to grow out under the skin of the world in his absence. He made himself a new body to extend his lifespan. Because the Labyrinth was tied to his life force, it continued to grow over the centuries. Eventually all three of you ended up there on a quest, right?"

"Close enough," Nico said. "I wasn't really with your Mom and Dad for most of the quest. But we were in there at the same time."

I looked over at Mom and Dad. "You guys never told me a whole lot about it."

"Of course we didn't," Dad said. "The Labyrinth was an awful place. It tricks you, gets into your head. Trust me, I wish I could forget it."

"You've blown it up in your head, made it worse than it was," Nico said. "I thought after Tartarus you'd think the Labyrinth a joke." The room seemed to fill with frigid air, despite the fact that it was June.

"Tartarus being worse than the Labyrinth, doesn't diminish how bad the maze was," Dad said stiffly. "And if you think I'm just going to stand by and let you –"

"Shut up, Seaweed Brain," Mom said sharply. "I don't like this anymore than you, but Nico's right. It's not up to us."

"Um, yeah, hi," I said, thoroughly annoyed. "You know, I'm right here. And talking about me like I'm not is making me want to punch something."

"Elizabeth," Dad said, "I just… Look, I know you. I know that you're going to want to rush into this to prove yourself. Ever since the incident on the highway, you've been reckless. I don't want you to make a decision that's going to end badly for you."

"I can take care of myself!" I snapped. "Why does everyone think I can't? I _can_. And besides, I can't make the decision if you don't let me hear what it is!"

"Elizabeth," Mom warned. "Watch your tone."

My parents and I all looked at each other in tense silence. Finally, Nico cut in. "I came here to make sure you understood everything, Elizabeth. So that you'd have time to think about things. I don't want you rushing into this decision. I agree that the decision should be yours. But you have to promise that you'll think about it. I don't want you making a decision today. You couldn't start this quest I have in mind today anyway."

"So you do want me to go into the Labyrinth," I said.

"That's getting a bit ahead," Nico said. "We're still talking about what you know."

Dad had apparently decided to protest in silence. He leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms tightly. "When Daedalus died almost thirty years ago, the Labyrinth collapsed, right?" I said. "But then last year I had that dream I told Chiron about. Where…" I hesitated, steeled my nerves, then continued, "where Gaius said something about investigating the New Labyrinth. I'm guessing Chiron told you about that?"

Nico nodded. "I've been keeping involved. Mostly it's been spy work. I can use the spirits of the dead to spy on Gaius. It's not perfect. I don't hear about everything he's up to. In fact, I hear about very little. But whatever information I get, I pass on to Chiron. Chiron's been giving me leads to follow up on, including that tip off you gave us about the New Labyrinth."

"What is the New Labyrinth?" I asked. "How is that a thing? I wasn't even aware there was a new one until I got that dream." I glanced accusingly at my parents, sure it had been just another thing they'd hidden from me to "protect me."

"It's understandable that your parents didn't mention it," Nico said quickly, cutting off another argument. "They weren't there when it was made. Hell, I wasn't even there when it was made. Only your Aunt Hazel and Uncle Leo were present when the New Labyrinth got made. They've probably told you the story before, and you might not remember it. Think."

When he said that, the memory came to me I a flash. "Pasiphaë," I said. "Minos's wife. She was a powerful sorceress, helped breathe life into the original Labyrinth. She did something to offend the gods, so they cursed her to fall in love with Minos's prized bull, and the child was –"

"The Minotaur," Nico said. "Yes, exactly."

"And she came back during the war with Gaea," I said. "Gaea let Pasiphaë back into the world of the living."

"Right," Nico said. "See, Pasiphaë hates the gods and their descendants. So Gaea offered her a job guarding the mortal side of the Doors of Death. She knew the Seven would have to close it, see. Unfortunately, the group got split up for various reasons. Ultimately, it was just Hazel and Leo who faced her. She raised the New Labyrinth in their fight."

"But they beat her," I said. "Hazel used her magic, turned the Labyrinth against her."

"But the New Labyrinth is just like the old," Mom said, speaking up for the first time in a while. "Which means the life force of the maze is tied to its creator. And Hazel and Leo didn't kill Pasiphaë."

"They beat her by opening a trap door in the maze, trapping her inside," Nico said. "The maze continued to grow, and after Pasiphaë recovered from her defeat, she started manipulating the maze around her. It is _her_ Labyrinth now."

"Why hasn't she been taken back to the Underworld?" I asked. "After the war, didn't Thanatos go around, sending all the remaining escaped spirits to the Underworld?"

"It didn't end up being that simple," Dad said bitterly. "It never is."

"Your father is right," Nico said. "For many years after the war ended, hundreds of Underworld escapees continued to roam the land of the living. It was up to us demigods, more often than not, to send them back to Hades. For instance, your Uncle Jason and Aunt Piper had to go kill a bunch of them in England. Personally, I returned many spirits to the Underworld."

"Your father and I had to go find and kill our fair share of Underworld escapees, too," Mom said.

"But Pasiphaë was a different story," Nico continued darkly. "You see, her maze is nearly impossible to navigate through. As a result, Thanatos was never ever able to get down there. The few demigods who've tried going on quests to take her out have always been lucky to make it out alive, if they made it out at al. I lasted all of five minutes down there before I was forced to flee. I think she was particularly aware of me, which makes sense. As a son of Hades, she would've been on high alert for me."

"Many heroes _have_ died on quests down there," Dad said. "Which is why I'm so against this." I could see the storm building in his eyes again, and I opened my mouth, ready to restart the argument, but Mom stopped it before it began.

"Enough," she said sternly. She laid a hand on Dad's arm, and glared pointedly at me.

Nico shifted uncomfortably. I could tell he didn't like being the cause of our family argument, but he was also there for a reason, and he wasn't backing down until he'd come to say what he needed to say. "At any rate," Nico said, "the New Labyrinth is an incredibly dangerous place. It spread out under the skin of the entire world, which is different from the old one, which moved to wherever the center of the West was and thus remained under that country alone."

"So for a couple centuries it was just underneath America," I concluded. "And then it was gone. And then Pasiphaë brought it back. And now it's under the _entire world_. Sound about right?"

Nico nodded. "You got it Elizabeth. But there's one other thing you need to know about the Labyrinth. What I said about Thanatos being unable to penetrate it? Well unfortunately many Underworld escapees found out about that, too. There are still about a hundred dead people unaccounted for from the war, and it's pretty likely most of them are in the Labyrinth, hiding where Thanatos and Hades can't get to them."

"A hundred?" I asked. "That's… a lot."

Nico frowned. "Yes, it is. I've been trying for the better part of the last two decades to help my father restore order to the Underworld. I've been pretty successful, but those hundred spirits are a blemish on my record."

"Which isn't strictly relevant," Mom pointed out.

"So Gaius is investigating the Labyrinth," I said, my stomach churning slightly. "Has been since at least last year. What does he hope to do down there? He's not… he's not planning to invade camp, is he?"

Nico shook his head. "No, that is not his plan."

"How do you know?" I asked, worried.

"Well for one, it's predictable," Nico said. "It's been done before, and if we know anything about Gaius it's that he's finding new ways to surprise us all the time. For another, there are no Labyrinth entrances in either Camp Half-Blood or Camp Jupiter. Hazel and I did thorough searches of both camps. If anyone could find a Labyrinth entrance, it's your Aunt Hazel."

"So if he doesn't want to invade either camp, what _does_ he want out of the Labyrinth?" I asked.

"Think, Elizabeth," Nico said. "What do we know Gaius has been trying to do?"

I got the feeling he didn't mean "destroy the gods." So what specifics did we know about Gaius's plan? What was he up to? He was after a prophecy, for one. Not the one that said he and I were fated to battle someday (which he apparently knew, despite the fact that no one else seemed to), but another one that was just as important to his big plan. But I didn't think Gaius would find answers about his missing prophecy in the Labyrinth. He may very well have already gotten it already, anyway.

So what else was Gaius up to? "Some kind of magic spell," I said slowly. "Gaius has been trying to cast some kind of powerful magic for the last two years. He stole one of Hecate's spell books. He got rid of Hecate somehow, making sure she was out of the way so he could cast the spell without anyone to counter it. And then there was that whole thing about blood. He was going to use Alex de Marco's blood, but we ended up saving him. He – or rather the people he's working with – is trying to cast some kind of powerful magic."

Nico nodded. "Exactly. And as we've already discussed, Pasiphaë is an incredibly powerful sorceress."

"He wants to convince Pasiphaë to help him," I finally said. "That's why he's been investigating the Labyrinth. That's what he wants." As soon as I said it, I remembered more details of dreams I'd had in the past, but been unable to hang onto. Eliana, one of Gaius's top lieutenants, protesting that the person Gaius was sending into the Labyrinth wasn't smart enough to negotiate. And from even further back, the first dream I'd had about Gaius's council of demititans, a pair of albino twins telling Gaius they needed a third person to help complete their spell. Gaius's plan to get Pasiphaë's help had been in the works for a very long time.

And now I knew what Nico was going to ask me to do. "You want me to take out Pasiphaë," I said. "You can't go down there without her sensing your presence. But me? I'd be an unknown. She wouldn't try any harder than usual to kill me. I'd have a chance to slip through the maze and take her out before Gaius can get to her. I'm in. Where's the nearest Labyrinth entrance?"

"This is exactly what I was talking about!" Dad exclaimed. "I told you she'd just jump on it!"

"Elizabeth," Nico said sternly, ignoring Dad's remark. "I already told you I didn't want you making a decision today. Besides, I haven't told you everything just yet. There's still a couple of important pieces of information you need to know."

I crossed my arms. "Fine. What else do I need to know?"

"First of all, navigating the Labyrinth is no easy task," Nico said. "It's not just any run of the mill maze. It's constantly moving, constantly changing."

"Back in the old Labyrinth," Mom said, picking up the thread, "there were only a couple of reliable ways to navigate. The first was Ariadne's thread, which would lead the holder wherever they needed to go in the maze. It wasn't efficient, but it got the job done. The second was to have a clear-sighted mortal guide. Ariadne herself was one such mortal. Rachel Dare was, too. It's because of her that we were able to find our way through the maze at all. The last way was to be guided by someone who had intimate knowledge of the Labyrinth and how it worked. Daedalus could get through the Labyrinth without assistance. As could the ghost of King Minos."

"Pasiphaë probably could have done it, too," Nico said. "But the rules are a bit different for the New Labyrinth. The entire maze is made of magic. There's no Ariadne's string to guide you through this one, and the only one with truly intimate knowledge of the maze is Pasiphaë, who's holed up in the center of the maze and wouldn't help you navigate it even if she wasn't. A clear-sighted mortal like Rachel, or your current Oracle, Gwendolyn, might still be able to navigate, but I wouldn't put my faith in that. The best way to navigate the current Labyrinth is receiving guidance from someone who can use magic themselves. You'll need someone like that on this quest with you, if you decide to go on it."

I thought about that. I could bring someone from the Hecate cabin, like their head counselor, Helen. She and I were on good terms. But I wasn't sure I wanted to go on a quest with her. We were friendly, but I didn't really know her all that well, and wasn't sure if I could trust her in a life and death situation. I decided I'd have to think about that. "Okay," I said slowly. "You mentioned there were a couple of important pieces of information I still needed. What else is there?"

"The first Labyrinth was tied to Daedalus's life force," Mom explained. "It stands to reason that the new one would be tied to Pasiphaë's."

"So if I take her out while I'm still in the maze, it'll collapse on us," I said.

Nico nodded. "Which means that you have to capture her, not kill her. And capturing her will be more difficult. Once you have her in your custody, she'll fight you every step of the way. Even if you restrain her in such a way that she won't be able to attack you directly with magic, she's powerful enough that any bonds won't hold her for long. And she'll probably summon waves of monsters to help her."

"Which is why this is so dangerous," Dad protested, crossing his arms identically to how I'd crossed mine just a couple minutes earlier. The parallel between my dad and I didn't make me feel better, seeing as I was angry with him.

"Percy, drop it," Mom said, clipping off each word. "You're only making this conversation longer. And the more you try to protect her, the more she's going to resist."

"And the more you talk about me as if I'm not here, the more I'm going to be pissed off," I growled. I crossed my arms again, then remembered Dad had his arms crossed and uncrossed them. "Look, Dad, I've already done lots of dangerous things. I got my godsdamned arm chopped off. This decision is mine. Would you have liked it if Grandma Sally kept trying to stop you from going on quests?"

The look on Dad's face was pretty grim, but he didn't say anything. I knew I had him. He'd once said that I was too much like Mom for his own good. At the time it had been a joke, but now… well Mom could always out-argue Dad, and it looked like I was starting to get the hang of it, too.

I turned back to Nico, trying to ignore the thickening tension. "So if capturing her is going to be so difficult and killing her in the Labyrinth isn't an option, what are you suggesting?"

"I think you and a small team can subdue her, temporarily," Nico said. "But not for long, and you won't be able to handle all the monsters she summons with a small group. A large group will draw too much attention, and any chance you had of slipping through without garnering extra attention would disappear. The only viable plan would be for you to go in with a small group, capture her, then run like the four winds for the exit. Monsters will follow you, which is why I'm calling in some favors so that you'll have some assistance once you get out of the maze."

"Sounds convoluted, tricky, and dangerous," I said. I grinned. "I like it. So I let you know when I've got my small team together, you take me to the Labyrinth entrance where you've got… whoever you're calling in favors from standing by, and we do this thing."

Nico frowned. "Not quite. You're getting ahead again, Elizabeth. All of this hinges on when Gaius enters the Labyrinth. Right now, he's still poking it. He hasn't committed a full operation yet. I'm not sending you in until he goes in."

Suddenly I felt like someone was pouring ice water down my back. I recoiled. My chest tightened slightly. Luckily my meds were still doing their job, so I didn't get a full on panic attack. Still, the idea of being in the Labyrinth at the same time as Gaius filled me with terror. And then shame at being so terrified. But I had been under the impression that I would be going in well before he finally made his own entrance into the Labyrinth. If we were actually going in at the same time, then that meant there was a very real chance he and I could run into each other, and I certainly did not feel ready for that.

"Why – why do you want to wait until he goes in to send me?" I asked hesitantly.

"Pasiphaë won't be able to sense the difference between your group and the demititans," Nico said. "You go in at the same as his group and it'll throw up a smokescreen. My ghost spies report that he's going to go in with a very large group. That'll distract Pasiphaë. It will force her to split her attention between your group and the larger one, and she'll almost certainly pay more attention to the larger one. It's the best chance we have of getting you through."

I frowned, looking down at the table. What Nico was saying made sense. And it really was the only way. But with my anxiety problems, how could I face Gaius? Just thinking about him made me freak out so badly half the time that I became debilitated. But then, maybe going into the Labyrinth anyway was the first step to overcoming my defection. And I was going to have to. Someday Gaius and I would have to fight again, and I wanted to be ready when that day came.

"You don't have to make the decision now," Nico said. "In fact, I don't want you to make the decision now. But think about it. If you're successful, we could deal Gaius a serious setback."

I looked over at my dad, who was so adamantly against me going into the Labyrinth. I looked at Mom, who'd stood up for my right to make the decision, though it was clearly more because she didn't want to push me even more towards doing it than because she actually was supportive of me making the choice. It was so hypocritical of them. They'd done dangerous things all the time when they were my age. But now they were trying to persuade me not to take the same risks? The thought fired me up.

"I'll do it," I insisted firmly. "And that's not likely to change."

Nico was still frowning, but he nodded. "Alright. I'll let you know when Gaius goes into the maze. You don't have to make your final decision until then." He stood up.

"Wait, you're leaving?" I asked. It didn't necessarily surprise me, but I didn't feel like getting trapped alone in the apartment with my parents. The high tension was going to make waiting until tomorrow to go to camp unbearable.

Nico nodded. "I've got a meeting with Chiron in a couple of hours."

My heart leaped up in my chest. My chance to escape the tension. "Can you give me a ride to camp?"

My parents looked at each other, then at me. I tried not to notice, but I saw the hurt on their faces. Part of me was still angry at them. _Serves them right_. But my anger was quickly fading. I felt guilty about my urge to get out of there so quickly. I knew I was being a huge brat, the exact nightmare teenager that parents dreaded having someday. My parents did love me and they wanted what was best for me. But it was a bit late for that. There was no escaping the war, and I had to play my part.

"I did bring the car," Nico said hesitantly. "So I'd be willing to give you a ride, but only if it's okay with your parents."

I looked over at Mom and Dad. They had one of their silent conversations. Then Mom nodded.

Regardless of the myriad of other emotions spinning around inside me like a hurricane, elation bubbled to the surface. I was going to camp a whole day early. It was the best news I'd had in a while. I sprinted upstairs and finished packing in a rush. As I packed, my guilt over fighting with my parents increased. I sighed. I couldn't leave things on such a bad note. Not when I probably wouldn't see them again for the better part of the next two and a half months. I slung my backpack over my shoulder, strapped my sword, Marianas, to my waist, and grabbed my suitcase by the handles.

When I got back downstairs, Nico was standing by the door. Mom whispered something in his ear and he nodded. They hugged briefly. Nico turned to Dad, and I caught his eyes flash with anger. No doubt it was related to the conversation we'd all just had. Stiffly, Dad stuck his hand out to Nico. Nico shook it, then turned to me, forcing a smile onto his face. "Ready to go?"

"Just a second," I said. I set down my suitcase, then wrapped both my parents in a hug. "I'll be fine, I promise."

They hugged me back. Dad bent and kissed the top of my head. "Good luck, Elizabeth," he said hoarsely. "I'm sorry about… everything." I got the feeling he didn't mean about the fight. Rather, he was apologizing for the whole war. He and Mom had fought their whole lives to make the world a safer place, but it was more dangerous than ever now. Neither of them had said it outright to me, but I got the feeling that they felt everything they'd done had been a waste.

"No matter what," Mom said, "we're proud of you. Remember that."

I nodded. I extricated myself from my parents' arms, then picked up my bag. I nodded to Nico. "Now I'm ready."

"Camp Half-Blood awaits," he replied, and led the way out of the apartment.

* * *

 **AN: That'll do it for this chapter. I hope you all enjoyed it. I'll see you guys again on Tuesday with chapter 3!**


	3. Chapter 3: My Best Friend Drives a Robot

**AN: Hey there everybody! Welcome back for chapter 3! Once again, I want to thank everyone who has read, reviewed, favorited and/or followed this story. I really do appreciate all the support!**

 **Once again, I'll start things off by responding to reviews. First, from WiseGirlGeek: "** **In this story, what's the version of Leo coming back from Calypso's island? And is Calypso still immortal?"  
A: I'll give you a condensed version. After returning to Ogygia, Leo took Calypso on a tour of the world before returning back home to see his friends again. Calypso is still immortal in my head. Also, the physician's cure had a sort-of side effect on Leo: he is very nearly impossible to kill. I haven't decided exactly what that means in my head, but yeah, that's what I imagine happened with them.**

 **Next from N: "was that a reference to little mermaid i saw?"  
A: Yes. Good catch!**

 **Next from MoonLitt Tears: "Would you tell us who you are gonna take on the quest? Is she gonna take more than two companions like Annabeth did?"  
A: Sorry, but telling you that would be a spoiler. You'll have to wait and find out.**

 **Finally, from Unicute17: "I think Elizabeth should have a psychiatric service dog to help her through her panic attacks"  
A: The way I've set up Elizabeth's character, she wouldn't want a service dog, even if having one would be a huge help to her. She doesn't want help, because she sees her panic attacks as a weakness and she doesn't want to admit her "weakness" to anyone. It's an important part of her overall character arc that she struggles with this.**

 **Alright, that's all there is from me. Now it's time for the chapter. Enjoy! DFTBA!**

* * *

Chapter 3: My Best Friend Drives a Robot

The ride to camp was quiet. Nico seemed to be lost in thought. No doubt he was still not completely comfortable with what he was asking me to do. He probably didn't want me to get hurt worse than I already was. I felt a little bitter about that; before my injury Nico probably wouldn't have been unsure like this. Still, I tempered it. He was one of the few people who was actually giving me a chance to prove that I was still just as good as ever.

We were about fifteen minutes out from camp when the silence was interrupted. A computerized voice intoned, "Call from Walt Stone."

Nico hesitated, glancing at me, then said, "Answer?"

"Hey, Nico," a deep voice said over the car speakers, "listen, Osiris and Hades –"

"I'm going to have to call you back later," Nico interrupted loudly, clearly regretting picking up the call. "I've got… er, company."

There was a pause, then, "Oh. Uh, okay."

"Are you going to be free to talk after dinner?" Nico asked. "Maybe around seven?"

"Yeah, I should be free," he replied. "I'll just have to see if Sadie can pick Benjamin up."

"Great, talk to you then," Nico said. He pressed a button on the center console and hung up the call.

I looked over at him, confused. "What was that? He mentioned your dad and… Osiris? Who's Osiris?"

"It's not important," Nico said dismissively.

"Walt was his name right?" I continued, too curious to just let it go. "I met him back in New Orleans, didn't I? You called him another death expert."

"Drop it," Nico said firmly. "Trust me, whatever Walt wants, it has nothing to do with the war." I didn't particularly want to drop it, but I knew that keeping pushing it would do me no good.

I cleared my throat. "Alright, fine." I paused, trying to figure out what to say to move past the brief moment of awkwardness. "Thank you, by the way. For believing in me. For trusting that I can handle this Labyrinth quest."

Nico shrugged. "You're a great hero Elizabeth. You've got two successful quests under your belt. You're the perfect choice for this quest, especially considering the fact the Gaius wants to keep you alive." I squirmed slightly at the mention of the son of Kronos. Nico seemed to notice. "You're uh… you're still getting panic attacks?"

I scowled. "Did Will tell you?"

"No, it was your folks," he said.

"I can still handle this quest," I said quickly. "I swear I can. I just have to be proactive about taking my meds and –"

"Easy," Nico said soothingly. "I know you can handle it. But I still want you to give the matter more thought before you decide for certain whether you want to go into the Labyrinth or not. It's a lot to handle for anyone, and my plan may very well cause you to meet Gaius."

"I thought of that," I said. "But this quest is too important to be ignored because of my weakness. This could be the edge we need to finally get ahead of Gaius. For once, we have a chance to stop his plans before he completes them. Besides, maybe facing him is exactly what I need to get over my damn anxiety."

"Alright," Nico said. "I just want you to put due thought into this and not rush in. Regardless of what Gaius does, I don't want you rushing into something that you're not prepared to face."

Nico pulled the car over at the bottom of Half-Blood Hill. We both got out. I grabbed my bags and strapped my sword to my waist. Nico smiled slightly. "You ready?"

I grinned and nodded. We climbed the hill, and at least for a moment I put thoughts about the upcoming quest out of my head. We made it to the top where Peleus, the guard dragon, lay encircling Thalia's pine tree, the golden fleece glittering in its branches. Camp Half-Blood filled up the valley in front of me, stretching all the way down to the Long Island Sound. In a lot of ways, it was just as I remembered it. The cabins were an odd mismatch of different styles, a wide green littered with statuary, fountains, and basketball courts between them. The strawberry fields were a mix of red and green. The canoe lake glittered. The woods looked as peaceful as ever. The Big House looked like its paint had been redone over the year.

Yet I noticed the war in the landscape, too. I hadn't been at camp since last August, even though I'd gone on several missions in the New York area, but it was clear that the entire camp had been geared towards the war effort. It wasn't overtly obvious, but as Nico and I walked down the hill I noticed it. Many of the campers we passed wore serious looks on their faces. The head counselor of the Athena cabin, Elesa, was running Phalanx drills, which wasn't unusual. What was unusual was that the campers she was instructing were actually paying attention. The smoke coming out of the forges was thicker than usual – the Hephaestus campers must have been working overtime. I couldn't imagine what things were like inside Bunker Nine.

"Camp's been busy," I noted.

"Indeed," Nico said, though he seemed too lost in thought to comment further. We'd reached the Big House. "I'll let Chiron know you're here," he went on. "And I'll be in touch about the Labyrinth. I don't know when the right time to move will be, but I suspect it won't be too long."

I hugged Nico. "Thank you again," I said. "I'll see you soon."

Nico patted my back. "You're welcome. And make sure you enjoy your summer, despite everything that's going on. Yeah?"

"I will," I assured him. Then we split apart, Nico climbing the steps of the porch, and me proceeding toward the cabin area.

* * *

I was halfway across the main green when I ran into a couple of friends of mine. They waved me over. "Hey, Elizabeth," said Dan Ocker, son of Hades. "How was your year?"

I shrugged. "Not bad." Dan was a nice guy. He'd apparently had a growth spurt over the last year, because he was definitely taller, though no broader. His hair was still platinum blond, his skin deathly pale, his eyes blue as ice. He was about my age. The other thing about Dan was that he seemed to think he owed me a favor. He never asked directly about it, but I got the feeling he remembered offering it very well. I wasn't sure that I'd ever call in on it. "How about you guys?" I asked. "How was your year?"

Dan shrugged. "Pretty good. Xavier left, so now I'm the only one in the Hades cabin. It's a little lonely, but I also get head counselor privileges, so that's nice."

"My year was alright," Helen Houdini said in her singsong voice. Helen was the head of the Hecate cabin. She was a bit more than a year my senior, with dark red hair woven in an always-intricate plait. Her most defining characteristic were her eyes, which were pale yellow and seemed to glow. Helen had played an important role in getting my first quest off the ground, and over the last two summers we'd developed a pretty friendly relationship. I didn't know what the extent of her magic powers were, though I knew she was the best sorceress we had at camp. I thought again about the possibility of bringing her along on the Labyrinth quest, though the idea still didn't sit quite right with me for some reason.

"Unfortunately," Helen continued, "still no luck in locating my mother."

I had expected as much, though it was still unfortunate. Hecate was by no means one of my favorite goddesses. On the contrary, she annoyed the shit out of me. But getting her back before Gaius could cast whatever spell he was putting together would be really helpful. "Any ideas, at least?" I asked.

Helen shrugged. "Hard to say. She may have been banished to Tartarus, or perhaps trapped by some powerful bonds. Gods and goddesses have been trapped before, as you well know." I did. I'd rescued the goddess Persephone my first summer at camp. That had also been the first time I'd met Gaius. "Furthermore, no prophecy has yet been revealed to point us in the right direction. Nor have the gods had any luck in locating her, at least as far as we can tell."

I frowned. "Sorry to hear that."

"Don't worry," Dan said. "You'll find her, Helen. Oh, and on an unrelated note, nice jacket, Elizabeth. Black is a good color on you."

Helen rolled her eyes, though in a good natured way. I smirked slightly. "Thanks, Dan. Anyway, I should go put my bags away. I'll see you two later."

I found Katherine, my cabin mate, somewhat occupied when I got to our cabin. Specifically, she was occupied breaking the "no-two-campers-from-different-godly-parents-alone-in-a-cabin-together" rule. I coughed loudly as I entered. "Well, hi there," I said.

Katherine and the boy she was making out with shot apart so quickly, I'm pretty sure there was a sonic boom. I couldn't help it. I burst out laughing. Katherine blushed hard and straightened her shirt, which had ridden up quite a bit. Her straight blonde hair was messy. She had a guilty look in her green eyes. "E-Elizabeth," she stammered. "I didn't think you were coming back until tomorrow."

"I got to come back early," I said, still chuckling. "Hey, James," I added, turning to the boy Katherine had been making out with. James was the head of the Nike cabin. He was originally from Ireland, and thus had the trademarked red hair/pale skin/freckles combo that Irish people tended to have. He and Katherine had started… something last summer. Clearly, that had progressed. James wasn't wearing a shirt, and I could see a few bruises on his clavicle. "Nice bruises you've got there," I continued, smirking. "Are those from the arena or from your girlfriend's teeth?"

His face flared as red as his hair. "I – well – I," he stammered in his Irish brogue. "I'm going to get going." He scooped his shirt and camp necklace off the floor, hastily pulled them on, and practically sprinted from the cabin.

"Gods that was so embarrassing," Katherine said, her face still the color of a beet.

"I thought it was hilarious," I said, setting my bags down by my bunk. It was always fun to catch someone else misbehaving. I did feel a little sympathy for her, as I had been caught making out with Augustus more than once, but my amusement outweighed my sympathy. "So how was your year? I'm guessing you and James are dating now?"

"Yes," Katherine said. "And my year has been… interesting, to say the least. With the war going on, I've had to go on all sorts of missions. Plus since I'm technically the Poseidon cabin's head counselor, I have to go to all the war council meetings."

I sat down on my bunk and faced her, suddenly serious and attentive. "How's all that been going?" I asked. "I've been trying to keep up to date as much as I can, but it's difficult when I'm back in the City during the school year."

Katherine sighed. "Honestly, we've gotten nowhere. You haven't missed much. Right now our number one priority is trying to capture a demititan, preferably a higher-up. But it's difficult. We can never nail down their positions. And the few times we do find actual demititans, they always get away. They've got so many monsters at their command that they can always cover their escape. And the monster situation itself is problematic, too. We don't have the numbers to take care of every reported monster hotspot, so we're focusing on the major ones as much as possible, but it's hard to keep up with. We're stretched pretty thin."

I frowned. So far, Katherine hadn't told me anything new, just stuff I'd already been told or had guessed, but it was still bleak. A couple summers ago, Sierra Grace had told me that I shouldn't worry about Gaius, because together Camp Half-Blood and Camp Jupiter had about four hundred trained heroes. Yet even with both camps cooperating, it was difficult to keep up with all the stuff Gaius was doing. And worse, he wasn't even doing anything major. Not yet anyway. He was simply causing as much chaos as possible to disrupt our efforts to stop him.

"What about the gods?" I asked. "Any idea what they've been up to? Zeus isn't still denying there's a problem, is he?"

Katherine shook her head. "No, he isn't. But unfortunately, there's not a whole lot the gods can do. None of the demititans have attacked the gods directly, so they can't retaliate."

"Ugh, I always hated those stupid ancient laws," I grumbled. "But they've got to be doing _something_."

"They are," Katherine said. "They're making sure the demititans don't bring their parents into this conflict. Kronos isn't a threat anymore, thanks to your dad, but there are still plenty of Titans that could cause some serious problems. Most of them are in Tartarus, so we probably don't need to worry about them. The main concern is making sure that the friendly and neutral Titans stay that way."

Based off of my previous encounters with Gaius, I wasn't sure that would be an issue, either. He didn't seem all that interested in bringing the Titans into the fray. The gods were wasting time.

Apparently my dissatisfaction showed on my face, because Katherine said, "I know. I'm annoyed too, but what else –"

A knock on the door cut Katherine off. "It's open!" she called.

Alex de Marco, the head of the Zeus cabin entered. With his golden hair and skin, he could have been a model. I had a mixed opinion of Alex. My first summer he'd been a complete jerk, but after being held hostage and tortured last summer he'd mellowed out. He'd become rather serious, and was one of the people most dedicated to the war effort now. "Hello, Katherine," he said. He glanced over and noticed me, "Ah, Elizabeth. Back early?"

I shrugged. "Yeah, only a day."

"Well it's good to have you back," he said formally. "Anyway, Katherine, the new Kymompoleia camper is causing havoc in the canoe lake."

"Ah, Styx," Katherine muttered. "I'll be right there." She turned to me. "I'll catch up with you at dinner."

"I could help," I suggested.

Katherine shook her head. "Not with this camper. Trust me, I'm the only one who can ever talk sense into her. Besides, you should go catch up with Theo and Jocelyn." She dashed out of the cabin, following Alex towards the canoe lake.

"Great," I muttered to myself. "Even at camp everyone thinks I'm useless."

* * *

I was tempted to go to the canoe lake and try to help anyways, but instead I found myself wandering over to the archery range where Theo was teaching some really young campers archery. A few weeks ago, Theo had texted me to tell me he was in training to replace the current head of the Apollo cabin, who'd be leaving at the end of the summer. I guess part of that training was teaching the little ones how to shoot an arrow. Theo would be a good fit for the position. He was camp's best archer, and he was a pretty decent medic, too. He was also a very talented singer, though he hated singing because of his mom.

Theo was quite tall, slightly taller than Augustus, with dark skin, brown eyes, and short, close-cropped brown hair. He was extremely handsome, and I'd actually had a crush on him when we'd first met. That was, until I'd found out he was gay.

"Hey, Theo!" I called out.

My friend turned around, surprised. "Elizabeth!" he exclaimed. He strode towards me, leaving his students to keep firing arrows, and hugged me. After we broke apart, he was grinning. "You're back early!"

"Yeah," I said. "Nico gave me a lift. He's got a meeting with Chiron."

"Nico di Angelo's here?" one of the young campers asked.

"Back to practice, Henry," Theo said flatly without looking. Henry grumbled and went back to firing arrows. None of his shots were hitting his target. "How've you been? Jocelyn sent you that tip about those monsters in Brooklyn, right? How'd that go?"

I thought back to earlier in the day. "Could've gone worse," I answered. As for how I'd been… well I preferred not to say much about that. I didn't want Theo to worry.

"Could've gone better, though," Theo said, pointing to the bandaging on my temple. "Did you do that yourself?"

I grimaced. "Yeah, I know it's bad."

Theo snorted. "Bad is a mild term for that piece of handiwork. I'll have to redo it over at Bunker Nine."

I raised my eyebrows. "I'm sorry, when did we say we were going to Bunker Nine?"

"It's where Jocelyn is," Theo explained. "She's helping Jake out with a project. Besides, Jake's gonna want to check your arm, make sure it's still operating correctly."

"Hang on, back up," I said. "Jocelyn is helping Jake?" Jake was a bit older than us and the head of the Hephaestus cabin. He was also Gus's best friend and the guy who'd built my robotic arm. The thing was, he and Jocelyn hadn't always gotten along. In fact, the very first time I'd met Jocelyn she'd admitted to stealing things of his out of Bunker Nine. I knew they'd made a truce since then, but it still surprised me that they'd willingly work together.

"Yeah, I know it's weird," Theo said, scratching the side of his head. "But they actually make a really good team."

"And what exactly are they working together on?" I asked.

"Easier to show you," Theo said. He turned back to his students. "You guys are dismissed early today. See you later." The kids quickly stowed away their practice bows and dashed off towards the central green, making sure to stay well away from the canoe lake, where utter chaos seemed to have descended.

Theo and I turned away from the commotion and started making our way towards the woods. "Since when was there a Kymompoleia camper?" I asked, gesturing over my shoulder to the canoe lake.

"Since about a week ago," Theo sighed. "She's bit wild, to be completely honest. And she doesn't have full control over her powers yet. Dangerous combination." I understood not having complete control over your own powers. When I'd first discovered my own powers I had almost no control over them. I still had trouble with it when I got emotional.

"Who brought her in?" I asked.

"Chuck Hedge. She's very powerful, and he can definitely sniff out power. Still, she's in a rough place, emotionally. She sort of latched onto Chuck. And Katherine once she got here. They're the only people who can talk her down when she gets in one of her fits." My stomach churned uncomfortably as I thought about my panic attacks.

"Anyway, how're you?" Theo asked again. "How are things going with Gus?"

I sighed. Neither topic was one I particularly felt like discussing. Still, I figured Theo wouldn't let it drop so easily. I decided to answer the Gus question. "Well, things with Gus are mostly fine, I guess. He's sweet and all but… I don't know. We argue a lot more than we did when we first started dating."

"That's just cause you're not in the honeymoon period anymore," Theo said.

I looked at him, confused. "The what period?"

"The honeymoon period," Theo repeated. "It's that period of time right after you start dating someone where everything about your relationship is rosy and perfect and nothing the other person does could ever possibly annoy you."

"I didn't know that was a thing," I admitted. "That makes sense, I guess. But I think it's more than just that with me and Gus. I… Well, he seems to think I need protecting! Like I can't take care of myself. I _can_ take care of myself," I asserted defiantly.

Theo raised up his hands. " _I_ know you can. Have you spoken to Gus about this?"

"Yeah," I said. "A couple of times, actually. He always says the same thing." I adopted a low voice in an attempt to imitate my boyfriend. "'I know you can take care of yourself, but it's not bad to let other people help out sometimes.' I don't _need_ help. I may have lost an arm, but I can still fight just as well as ever."

Theo remained silent for a few moments after my tirade, thinking about his response. Finally, he said, slowly and carefully, "Do you think you might be –"

"I swear to Poseidon if the next word out of your mouth is 'overreacting' I'm gonna punch you," I warned.

"Well, I think you might be," Theo said.

Despite the fact that he hadn't actually said the word, I still punched him in the shoulder. He winced. "Sorry," I said quickly, realizing I'd hit harder than I'd meant to.

He waved off my apology. "Look, Elizabeth, all I'm saying is that you don't have to prove how much of a badass you are to everyone. We all know that you're a badass. It sounds like the person you're trying to prove something to is yourself."

I scoffed. "If I wanted to be psycho-analyzed I'd talk to a therapist."

"You're not seeing a therapist?" Theo asked, surprised. "I thought you'd want to talk to a professional after the injury."

"I don't need to talk to anyone," I said, somewhat more forcefully than was entirely necessary "And even if I did, how many therapists do you know that I can go up to and say, 'Yeah, I'm here because the son of Kronos chopped off my real arm'? If there is a therapist somewhere that's a demigod, I don't know them. Besides, I don't need therapy. I'm fine." I neglected to mention my panic attacks. I didn't want Theo to realize how weak I was and to have him start hounding me about seeing a therapist.

Once again, Theo held up his hands. "Alright, forget I said anything."

"Sorry," I sighed. "I shouldn't take my frustration out on you."

"It's fine," Theo said.

"No, it's not," I insisted. We continued to walk in silence for a few minutes. As we approached Bunker Nine, we started seeing other campers walking in the opposite direction, some walking together and talking about projects. Mostly they were Hephaestus and Athena campers going to clean up before dinner.

Finally we passed through the huge doors of Bunker Nine. I didn't go in there very often, but it was an impressive place. The entry area was a huge room with a gigantic platform in the middle, perfect for building, say, a giant Greek warship. Throughout the room were worktables, benches, and lots and lots of tools. Stairs and ladders led to a complex series of catwalks above. Many halls and doors branched off the entry room, leading deeper into the huge underground complex.

Theo led the way down one of the larger halls. We came to a stop next to two side-by-side doors. One of them was a big garage door from behind which I could hear all sorts of loud noises. The other door was marked "Observation Room." Theo took me through that door. It opened onto a flight of stairs. We climbed the stairs and came into a dark room. In the back were a couple storage lockers. Along one wall there was a set of windows which looked into the room the garage door went into. What light there was came in through those windows. What I saw in there made my jaw drop.

Inside the other room was a ten-foot-tall robot. Its head was no more than a slight bulge atop its body, a circular window of completely reflective glass replacing its face. One of the robot's hands was holding a massive sword. The other hand wasn't really a hand at all but rather looked like a canon. Monsters, which someone must've summoned into the room to test the robot, attacked it from all sides. The robot swung its massive sword around and the monsters burst apart five at a time. The robot fired a bolt of blue energy out of its cannon arm, destroying five more monsters and leaving a blast mark on the floor.

Jake sat at some sort of control console in front of the windows, typing notes into a computer furiously while watching the robot. I didn't see Jocelyn anywhere.

"Hey, Jake," Theo said.

Jake glanced up. "Oh… hey, Theo," he said, forcing his voice to be unnaturally casual. He flushed slightly. (I had good reason to believe Jake had a crush on Theo.) Then he glanced over and noticed me as well. "Elizabeth! You're back early. How are you?"

There was that pesky question again. "Fine," I answered, taking a seat next to Jake. He was a big guy, tall and broad, with large, calloused hands from working with machinery and in the forges. His brown hair curled just a bit at the ends. As usual, a pair of blowtorch goggles hung around his neck. A new feature to his look was the beard he'd grown. It suited him. "I like the beard," I said. "How are you?"

"Thanks," Jake said, looking back into the room next door where the robot continued to take out monsters deftly. "And I'm doing well. Testing is going marvelously."

"Theo said Jocelyn was helping you," I noted. "Where is she?"

"In there," Jake said, nodding to the room.

"It's not a robot or automaton or anything," Theo added, taking a third seat and scooching over to redo the bandaging on the side of my face. "It's a suit."

"What?" I asked, stunned. "You mean Jocelyn is inside that thing controlling it?"

"She sure is," Jake said. "I've been working on these suits for years. With the war going on, I thought it would be important to start finally testing them." The robot, which I now knew contained my best friend, cut down the last of the monsters. Jake pressed a button next to the microphone and spoke into it. "That was great, Jocelyn. Let's call it a day. Come on up in here and we'll debrief."

"Roger that, mon capitaine," Jocelyn's voice replied through a speaker. Down in the room, the front of the robotic suit opened up revealing Jocelyn strapped into some kind of control apparatus. She started undoing the straps.

"So," Jake said, turning towards me and taking my attention away from Jocelyn and the robot suit, "let's take a look at that arm of yours." I pulled off my glove and jacket, exposing my whole robot arm. Jake raised his eyebrows. "What in Hephaestus's name have you been doing with that thing?"

I hadn't paid the arm much attention earlier, but it looked a little beat up from my fight earlier. It was dented in places, no doubt from when I'd smashed the chunk of cement, and had several scorch marks on it. I frowned. "It's still working fine."

"Well eventually it's going to stop working fine," Jake said. "I'll have to patch it up. Straighten your arm." I did as he said. Jake pressed his thumb against the silver ring that connected the celestial bronze to my flesh. There was a hiss and the arm popped off.

Just then, Jocelyn came to the top of the stairs. She grinned when she saw me. "Elizabeth, you're back early! Need a hand?" she added.

I rolled my eyes. "Very funny."

"I know," Jocelyn replied. She was covered in sweat. Clearly it was rather hot inside the robot suit. She'd stripped down to athletic shorts and a sports bra. Despite the layer of sweat she came over and hugged me.

"Gross!" I protested, hugging her back with my one arm anyway. It wasn't surprising. She'd done the same thing many times before. Jocelyn backed away, grinning. She was a couple inches shorter than me, with wavy, shoulder length caramel hair and hazel eyes that glittered when she told a joke, pulled a prank, robbed someone blind, or did any of the other "daughter of Hermes" things she liked to do. She'd always looked more mature than me, despite the fact that we were the same age, but over the last year she'd really… developed, resulting in a new found attention from boys. Jocelyn didn't appreciate it. The guys at camp knew better than to check her out or, gods forbid, hit on her, but last time she'd come to visit me in the City she'd beaten up five guys. And stolen wallets from three of them.

Jocelyn went over to one of the storage lockers in the back of the room and grabbed a towel, wiping off the sweat. Theo made a face. "Are you not planning on taking a shower?"

"Not going to have time," Jocelyn commented. "We've got dinner in a few minutes, and then I have to go to a war council meeting after." I was confused for a second until I remembered Jocelyn had become head of the Hermes cabin just last month. "Ergo," Jocelyn continued, "I'll just have to towel off for now." She pulled on her camp shirt and came over to us. "The test went well," she said to Jake.

Jake glanced up from my robot arm. "Yes, it did. I think my adjustments really improved the rotor speed."

"Yeah," Jocelyn agreed. "The response time was much better. The delay was less than a second."

"I'm going to make a couple more adjustments," Jake said. "Hopefully we can get that delay down to zero."

"My biggest complaint is still the peripherals," Jocelyn said. "Or the lack thereof. I still have no peripheral vision out of that thing."

"I know," Jake said, frowning. "I've been trying to come up with a good solution. But with the window being a weak point, I just don't want to increase its size. I'll come up with something."

"Gods, is the conversation always this boring after tests?" I joked.

"Pretty much," Theo put in.

Jocelyn rolled her eyes. "Whatever, Jackson. You're just jealous that I get to drive a cool robot suit."

Just then, the conch horn sounded, though the noise was rather faint inside the Bunker. Theo and I stood up. Jake stayed sitting, fiddling with my arm. "I'm gonna eat dinner down here. Work on your arm and then the suit a bit. I'll get this back to you this evening."

"Oh," I said, a sinking feeling in my gut. I really hated walking around one armed. But I didn't say anything about that. Instead I said, "Can you do one other thing while you're working on it?"

"What's that?" Jake asked.

"Can you make it not feel pain?"

Jake's eyebrows knit together. "Elizabeth, I made the arm able to feel pain so that you don't do anything stupid and reckless with it."

"Well I do that, anyway," I said.

"Yeah, she's always been stupid and reckless," Jocelyn added snidely.

Jake sighed. "I'm not going to take away the pain sensation altogether, but I'll decrease the sensitivity of the pain sensors." I wanted to argue, but I got the feeling that I wasn't going to get a better offer. Plus I was really hungry.

"Alright, fine," I said. "Thanks. I'll see you later."

Jocelyn and Theo said their farewells, then the three of us left to go to dinner.

* * *

 **AN: Another chapter done. I'll see you guys this weekend with the next one!**


	4. Chapter 4: The War Council Doesn't Play

**AN: Hey guys! Sorry I missed the update over the weekend, but I'm back with chapter 4. I, as always, want to thank everyone for your support!**

 **One question to respond to today from ForeverAFairyTailLover159: "** **I've got a question though,does Elizabeth get her arm back?,cuz it would be cool if she did."  
A: Her real arm? I had no plans to give her her real arm back. Unfortunately, there's just no way for her to ever get her real arm back without some crazy godly shenanigans. It's okay, though. The robot arm is an important part of her character arc overall, especially in this book.**

 **Alright, that's enough from me. This chapter is a little shorter than the last few have been, but I cut it off in a place that felt natural to me. I'll see you guys this weekend! DFTBA!**

* * *

Chapter 4: The War Council Doesn't Play Nice

Unfortunately, I ended up being a little late to dinner. I hurried to scrape part of my food into the sacrificial fire (which was slightly difficult, as Jake still had my robotic arm), then hurried over to the Poseidon table and sat by Katherine, who looked even more disheveled than she'd been after I caught her making out with James. Her blonde hair, normally straight, and puffed out is a frizzy mess. She was covered in small scrapes. Nevertheless, she smiled slightly when I sat down.

"What took you?" she asked.

I held up my right arm stump. "Got held up in Bunker Nine."

"Well as your head counselor, I could punish you for being late to dinner," she joked.

I smirked. "Yeah? Well as a responsible, rule-following camper I could tell Chiron you were alone in a cabin with your boyfriend."

Katherine turned beet red to the roots of her hair. "We didn't _do_ anything."

"No, of course not," I said. "What I walked in on definitely wasn't a steamy make-out session. It was just a friendly wrestling match."

"Oh, shut up," Katherine said, burying her face in her hands, mortified. I laughed loudly.

It took a few minutes for Katherine to recover from her embarrassment. I used the opportunity to look around the dining pavilion. Over at the head table I saw Chiron, Uncle Grover, and the oracle, Gwendolyn, deep in hushed conversation. Conspicuously absent was Mr. D. Where was he? Also, what were they talking about so quietly?

Chiron, of course, looked like he always did. His brown hair and scruffy beard were well-trimmed this year. His horse lower half had been groomed recently. Uncle Grover looked stressed. I could tell because of the way he was clopping back and forth on his hooves. Also because of the aluminum can he was munching on. His nature conservatory shirt was dirty like he hadn't washed it recently. Gwendolyn had dyed her short hair bubble gum pink this year. She spotted me eying them and winked at me.

I spotted other people I knew, like Elesa over at the Athena table and Spencer at the Ares table. I also saw several new faces, including a girl with dark skin and dark hair in cornrows. She looked miserable, sitting alone at her table, which was one I'd never seen occupied before. If I had to hazard a guess, she'd be the Kymompoleia camper. I nudged Katherine and asked her.

"Yeah," Katherine said. "That's her. Yolanda's her name. She's a sweet girl, but she's had a rough time. And she can't –"

"Control her powers very well," I said. "Yeah, Theo mentioned. What exactly are her powers? Are they like ours or what?"

"Well Kymompoleia is the goddess of violent sea storms, so her powers are storm based," Katherine said. "It's already a pretty wild power and there's not really anyone to teach her. I've never summoned a storm before." I rubbed my chin thoughtfully. Dad could summon hurricanes. Surely Katherine could, too, and she just hadn't figured out how yet. "Anyway," Katherine went on, "we've got a war council meeting after dinner. All the head counselors get together, talk about what's going on. We bring one or both of Camp Jupiter's praetors in on video conference. I was hoping you'd come with me. You're better at the brainiac thing and I want to keep you in the loop, especially with this prophecy about you and Gaius."

I felt a swooping feeling. Katherine was bringing me with her to the war council? I didn't know if she was doing it because she felt bad for me or because she genuinely wanted me there, but either way I really appreciated it. "Thanks! I'll definitely come. As long as that's allowed."

Katherine shrugged. "Don't see why not. George from Apollo always brings Theo with him."

"Cool!" And it was. Obviously the war was very serious, and I was looking forward to being involved in a more serious way. Staying at home over the school year had made it difficult to keep on top of everything. But now I was being invited to sit in on a war council meeting. It was a good feeling.

* * *

The war council met in a large conference room in Bunker Nine. The room was pretty bland, just a plain room with a large table in the middle and a wall sized TV screen in the back. Apparently the Camp Half-Blood war council used to meet in the rec room of the Big House but now there were so many different cabins that it was impossible to fit everyone in there. As it was, the room still filled up pretty quickly.

"So how exactly does this war council thing work?" I asked Katherine quietly as various head counselors filed in.

"Usually we get the report from Camp Jupiter first," Katherine said. "Then we go over our own stuff."

"Who leads the meetings? Chiron?" I asked.

"No, he just advises," Katherine said. "Spencer and Elesa have taken joint leadership of the war council. Since they're both kids of war gods everyone thought it would be the best choice."

"And was it?" I asked.

"Irrelevant question," said Jocelyn, taking a spot next to me. "Fancy seeing you here, Lizzie."

"I really hate it when you call me that."

"The war council is dysfunctional," Jocelyn went on quietly. "And it has nothing to do with Elesa or Spencer. Those two are trying their best. The other morons here like to argue about the dumbest shit."

"Petty things," Katherine added, frowning. "You'd think some of them don't realize we're in a war."

Jake drifted over to our conversation, my right arm cradled in his own. I thanked him as he reattached it. I made to continue the conversation with Jocelyn and Katherine, but at that moment Spencer and Elesa called things to order, even though some people were still filing in around the table. Theo nudged me playfully as he passed, following his head counselor to their spot. Elesa, head of the Athena cabin, was pretty intense. Her blonde hair was in a tight bun. Her grey eyes glinted. Her high cheek bones were so sharp they could cut steel. "Let's get started," Elesa said with her British accent.

Spencer hit a button on a remote and the TV in the back of the room lit up. Spencer was a hulking dude with muscles like basketballs. He was also camp's resident weapon's expert. There wasn't a single weapon he didn't know how to use, and he usually had about nine on him at all times.

After the TV had booted up, the face of Tony Perez lit up the screen. Tony was one of Camp Jupiter's Praetors. He was a bulky Mexican American dude with dark hair. He and I had been friendly to each other since we'd met two years ago on my first quest. "Can you hear me okay?" he asked.

"You're good," Spencer informed him.

"Alright everyone," Elesa said. "As usual, the first item on the agenda is an update from Tony. So go ahead, Praetor."

"Thanks, Elesa," the Praetor replied. "Recently Camp Jupiter launched a major operation. A few days ago, Sierra Grace led half of the Fifth Cohort to a warehouse in northern California. The demititans had been moving weapons and supplies through there. Under Sierra's leadership, we managed to capture their supplies, but unfortunately we still haven't captured any demititans. Still, there were no casualties on our side. Centurion Grace led her troops with distinction.

"There has continued to be heavy monster activity all over the west coast. It definitely seems like it's coordinated to prevent us from searching for the demititans' base of operations. Obviously we can't just ignore this monster activity. For instance, just recently we had to send a quest out to handle Medusa, who had recently regenerated and set up shop in Napa." At the name Medusa, whispered rolled through the room.

"Medusa's a bad customer," Jocelyn whispered to me. I didn't need telling. Mom and Dad had fought Medusa when they were twelve. "I wonder who else Gaius and his cronies have gotten on their side."

"Everyone, calm down," Spencer said.

"Has the quest been completed yet?" asked George, head of Apollo, from across the table.

"Yes," Tony answered. "We sent out a quest under the leadership of Centurion Donald Hilton, the other centurion from the Fifth Cohort. He took Matt Jackson and Amalia Arellano-Sanchez." My heart leapt up and clogged my throat. My brother had gone on the quest to take out Medusa? He could've died. For all I knew, he _did_ die. "Unfortunately, Donald Hilton was turned to stone in the conflict, but Matt and Amalia managed to defeat Medusa."

My heart settled back down. Thank gods. Then I felt guilty. Was I really glad that some guy I didn't know was dead?

"Who's replacing Donald as Centurion?" Elesa asked, jotting down notes on a pad.

"Sierra has recommended Amalia for the position," Tony said. "I'm inclined to agree with her on the matter. Defeating Medusa is not the only accomplishment Amalia has to her name, though an official decision won't be made until tomorrow."

"Keep us updated," Elesa said.

"Of course," Tony said. "The last item I'll bring up tonight is related to the other Praetor position. As you may know, my co-praetor Valencia Invisus retired recently after twelve years of service to the Legion. On June 24th, the Feast of Fortuna, we'll elect a new Praetor. Sierra Grace is vying for the position, as is one of the Centurions from the First Cohort, Devon Roberts."

"Who would be better for the position do you think?" Spencer asked.

Tony hesitated. "Strictly speaking, I shouldn't share my preference. If it gets back to the Legionnaires it could affect the vote. But I would rather have Sierra Grace be elected Praetor. She's more amiable, and she's a proven leader. Devon's been part of the Legion for a while, and he has his supporters, but he's pretty unpleasant."

"If she is elected, that'll leave another empty Centurion position in the Fifth Cohort," Elesa mused.

"Yes," Tony agreed. "But as I said, the currently open position will be filled first thing in the morning, likely by Amalia. That'll give Sierra a couple of weeks to train her up before the election."

"And who do you think could replace Sierra?" Spencer asked.

Tony considered this. "I think Matt Jackson would honestly be a good option. He's still pretty new, but he's already shown some good initiative and leadership skills. Donald liked him. The rest of the Cohort likes him. I think he'd be the perfect person for the position. But I'll keep you updated."

Matt had been busy it seemed. He'd only been at Camp Jupiter for about a year, and he'd been on _probatio_ for most of that time. He'd been right. He was fitting in remarkably well with the Romans. I was proud of him, but also a little sad. It sounded like he was doing great, like he didn't miss home. Or, for that matter, me.

"Excellent," Elesa said. "Thank you for the update Tony. Now, moving on. Let's hear Jake's report."

"The Hephaestus cabin is continuing to build up our arsenal of weapons and armor," he said. "We should have a full set of Celestial bronze armor for everyone by the end of the month. Spears and swords are coming along well, too. Unfortunately, we're a bit behind on shield production, though we should be able to catch up when the rest of the cabin moves back in. Also, testing on the mech suit is going well. I should be able to finish testing the prototype before the end of the summer, then we can go into full production and start training people to use them."

Several people around the table muttered, impressed. "How many are we looking at in the final release?" Ariana, head of the Hebe cabin, asked. She was a petite girl with reddish-brownish hair.

"Ten for each camp," Jake replied. "At least for the first batch. Trying to do more than that would waste valuable resources. But if these first twenty prove successful enough then I'll start making more."

Spencer nodded. "Very good. Jocelyn? What's the Hermes cabin got for us?"

"We've been keeping our ears to the ground," Jocelyn said. "Tony mentioned heavy monster activity in the west? Well we've got the same problem all over the east, but very little activity directly from demititans. Right now we're only committing people to smaller scale issues, but once the rest of the campers return tomorrow, there are a couple of larger hotspots that I think we should commit some serious attention to."

"Can you brief us on those?" Elesa said. "We can choose a leader for each operation now."

"This is always the worst part," Katherine whispered to me. "Everyone wants the chance to lead a mission and bring themselves glory." I knit my eyebrows. Was that really what these others were worried about? Gaius and his demititans were trying to kill the gods, and all of us, and they were arguing about who got glory?

"The first area of interest is the DC area," Jocelyn said. "We think there may be a dracaenae breeding ground there."

"I can take that one," Dan said.

"Oh, sure," said Shay, the only camper from the Aeolus cabin. "Let another Big Three camper get even more glory, that'll be great."

"Oh, like you could really lead a quest," scoffed Germaine, the head of Demeter. "Now I am no fan of a son of Hades leading this quest, but your record is against you, Shay. _I_ should lead this quest."

"Oh yeah," Dan said sarcastically. "You'll be _real_ good at that. Go back to planting grain and leave the fighting to someone who actually knows what they're doing."

I almost snapped at all of them, even though I wasn't sure if I was allowed to speak or not. Luckily, Alex de Marco beat me to it. "Will you guys shut up? Every week it's the same freaking thing. Everyone thinks that they'd be the best to lead a quest. This is war. There are more important things to worry about than personal glory."

"Oh please, you just want the quest yourself," Shay said.

"All of you shut up!" yelled Elesa. They did. "The quest will be Dan's. Dan, speak to Jocelyn after the meeting and get full details. Jocelyn, you mentioned another larger hotspot?"

"Yes," Jocelyn said. "There's a town in Ohio that's seen a lot of unexplained disappearances recently. All of the disappeared people were male, which leads me to believe the problem is a large group of empousai. I'd suggest a quest of only girls for that one."

Elesa spoke before anyone could start arguing about it. "Ariana, would you lead that one?" Ariana nodded in the affirmative. "See Jocelyn afterwards for full details, then."

"Anything else from the Hermes cabin?" Spencer asked.

"One last thing," Jocelyn said. "There have been some ships that have gone down inexplicably a few miles off coast. I was hoping Katherine and Elizabeth would go investigate. We're thinking it's probably a sea monster."

"Sure thing," Katherine said.

Wait, what? I was going on a sea monster hunt? Cool.

"Alright, that's settled then," Spencer said. "Chiron, Gwendolyn, anything from you two? You've been quiet."

I started. I hadn't even realized Chiron and Gwendolyn were here. Chiron had switched over to wheelchair form, due, no doubt, to the low ceiling in the room. He and Gwendolyn had a quick whispered conversation before Chiron said, "No, nothing from us."

At that same moment, my phone buzzed. I stealthily looked down at it and opened a text message from Gwendolyn. _Meet us up at the Big House after this meeting ends._ I looked up at the Oracle, who was watching me. I gave as small a nod as I could.

"Then that's it for the evening," Spencer said with a relieved sigh. "Thanks again, Tony."

The praetor nodded, then the video feed cut out. People started filing out. Katherine hung back to talk to Jocelyn about the sea monster. Dan and Ariana were making their way around the table, too. I turned to my friends. "I've gotta go," I said lowly. "Fill you in later." Both Jocelyn and Katherine gave me confused looks, but they nodded. I turned and left the room.

* * *

 **AN: Alright, I'll see you guys soon.**


	5. Chapter 5: I Get My Worst Prophecy Yet

**AN: Hey everyone! I'm back again! I know I'm uploading this pretty late at night/early in the morning, but I didn't want to make you wait any longer than you had to. As always, thank you all for the support I've been getting. You guys rock!**

 **A couple of questions from a Guest reviewer to answer before we get started. First: "** **is Matt going to be part of the quest?"  
A: Matt will have a very important role to play in this book. But I won't say more on that just yet. Only a couple more chapters to wait on that.**

 **Next: "Is Percy and the rest of the seven going to play an important role in the upcoming stories?"  
A: Those that have not appeared will appear by the end of the series. As to whether they'll have an important role in the upcoming stories... Kind of. But not in a way that you'd expect, necessarily.**

 **Finally: "Is Sierra going to have a big role?"  
A: She'll have increasing importance over the course of this book and the next two, but I won't say how big a role she'll end up having by the end. You'll have to wait and see.**

 **Alright, that's it for review responses. Enjoy the chapter. DFTBA!**

* * *

Chapter 5: I Get My Worst Prophecy Yet

I waited for Chiron and Gwendolyn on the Big House's porch, looking at the camp. Firelight glowed from the Amphitheater where most of the campers were enjoying a campfire. I could see a few campers walking back to their cabins, some of them from the war council. _Gods, the war council_. That had been a mess. Everything had been fine up until it was time to talk about missions. Then everyone had suddenly decided that their own glory was the most important thing in the world. It was frustrating. Didn't they understand that this wasn't about glory? I mean, I had lost my godsdamned right arm. This shit was serious.

After about five minutes of my brooding, Chiron and Gwendolyn made it up to the porch. "Elizabeth," Chiron said with a weary smile. He held out his arms and I hugged him quickly. "How are you, my dear?"

"I've been better," I admitted. "But I'm okay." Now that I was closer to Chiron, I could tell how exhausted he looked. He had deep bags under his eyes. There were grey hairs in his beard. "How are _you_?" I asked, concerned.

Chiron sighed. "Your concern is touching, but I will be fine. Three wars in less than thirty years is… troubling, but I'll survive."

"Let's go inside," Gwendolyn suggested.

We did as she said and settled in the lounge. Seymour the leopard head yawned widely as we entered the room, like we'd woken him up. Gwendolyn tossed him a package of snausages, then settled into a chair. I sat down across from her. Chiron, who was still in his wheelchair, wheeled around to face us. "What did you think of the war council meeting?"

I frowned. "Honestly? It was bad. If the amount of fighting over stupid things like personal glory is this way in every meeting, I don't think we have a chance against the demititans."

"That is a rather grim assessment," Chiron said. "I don't think it's as hopeless a situation as you think it is. But you are right, we are struggling to unite. And not just the campers here, but the gods are…"

"Being unhelpful," Gwendolyn said. "Obviously you noticed that our _lovely_ camp director is absent. That's pretty much the case with all the gods. We're hearing squat from them except the same standard line: 'We're keeping the Titans out of it.'"

"Is there any actual evidence that the demititans are trying to get their parents involved?" I asked. "Because Gaius never seemed to show any interest in that the times we met or the times I've dreamt about what he's up to."

"It's hard to say," Chiron said. "Last month Jocelyn had a run in with Marcus, and he, at least, seemed interested in getting his father, Prometheus, involved." Jocelyn had had a run in with Marcus? Marcus was either Gaius's number two or three. He was very important in the demititan command. Why hadn't she told me she'd seen him?

"At any rate, it isn't the most helpful use of the gods' powers or resources," Gwendolyn said. "And we suspect the gods may be divided over how best to proceed. Which just makes getting anything useful done even harder."

I scowled. Of course the gods were fighting. When weren't they? The gods, Camp Half-Blood, Camp Jupiter – everyone was on the same side in this war. Why couldn't everyone just stop with the petty nonsense? "Is there anything we could do? To unite everyone more effectively, I mean?" I asked.

"We could use a big victory," Gwendolyn said. "And not just taking out a bunch of monsters."

"We need to strike a blow directly against the demititan command," Chiron said. "That might sharpen everyone's focus and get everything back on track."

"The Labyrinth," I guessed. "That's what you're talking about. My future quest there."

Both of them nodded. "Success on your quest could prove key in getting the war effort back on track," Chiron said. "I don't like the idea of anyone going in there, but if you are successful with Nico's proposed plan, it would be huge."

"Don't go blabbing about it to everyone," Gwendolyn added. "Because then everyone is just going to start fighting about who should go. Keep it to yourself for now. Maybe tell whoever you're planning on taking, but otherwise, mum's the word."

"I got it," I said. "And I agree. People would fight about this, especially since I've been on both of the most significant quests connected with this war. And I know that everyone might have reservations about sending me on this quest after what happened last year, but I can do this. I _will_ succeed."

Gwendolyn bit her lip. "Elizabeth, it's not… It's not that simple. Recently, I got a prophecy. While I sleep, I leave a video camera on to record me. That way if the spirit of Delphi decides to play my vocal cords like a harp, I'll know what I said. Normally there's nothing of note when I watch the tape on fast-forward in the morning, but a few days ago… Well, I got a prophecy, and it's definitely about your upcoming quest."

My stomach twisted. Prophecies were tricky, and by the look on Gwendolyn's face, I wasn't going to like what it said. Still, I asked, "What does the prophecy say?"

Gwendolyn cleared her throat. " _Five shall go into the maze_

 _To cease the witch's endless days._

 _No matter how hard the heroes try,_

 _At the end a friend will die._

 _Ultimately, the quest shall fail:_

 _The son of Kronos shall destroy the veil."_

My chest tightened. I forced myself to take deep breaths, trying to stave off my own panic. "That uh… sounds really bad."

"Prophecies' meanings are often unclear until they come to pass," Chiron said soothingly. "Why, the Great Prophecy about your own father implied that he would die, when in fact it was Luke Castellan that died."

"Yeah, well the language in that one was pretty ambiguous," I said angrily. "This one literally said the quest would fail. Oh, and that a friend would die. Let's not forget that part."

"I agree that it looks bad," Gwendolyn said. "Like _really_ bad, but it could be Gaius's quest that will fail, and it could be one of his friends that dies. We just don't know."

"Yeah, that's _real_ likely," I said sarcastically. "Especially with that bit about Gaius destroying the veil. It seems to me like that's what he wants, whatever the frick that means. What _does_ that mean?"

Gwendolyn only shrugged, and Chiron sighed. "The veil could be many things. The answer to that question will only become apparent in time."

I sighed and leaned back in my chair, my chest still tight, but the surge of anger at just how unfair fate was being kept me from getting a panic attack. I really wanted to punch something or yell at someone, but I also wasn't about to take it out on Chiron and Gwendolyn. They were only telling me all this so that I would be as prepared as possible for whatever was about to happen next. Although I was pretty aggravated that they'd told me how important it was I succeed, then immediately shared a prophecy that said I'd fail.

Abruptly, I stood up. "Is there anything else?"

Gwendolyn and Chiron were taken aback. Was I being rude? Yeah. But I really needed to let out some of my pent up frustration. "Uh, no," Gwendolyn said. "We just wanted to warn you about the prophecy."

"Great. Well I'll see you later, then."

"Elizabeth," Chiron said softly as I turned to leave. "Do not dwell too much on this prophecy. It will reveal its meaning in time." I didn't respond. I left the Big House as quickly as I could and went into the woods to find a monster to kill.

* * *

I didn't get back to the Poseidon cabin until well after three in the morning and I didn't get to sleep until five, so I was extremely grumpy when Katherine woke me up for breakfast at eight. I trudged up to the dining pavilion with her, my hair still loose and displaying a magnificent case of bedhead. I moved to scrape one of my pancakes into the sacrificial fire like a zombie, then dropped into my seat at the table, completely zoning out. That was until Katherine snapped her fingers in front of my face.

"Elizabeth, did you hear what I just said?"

I blinked. "No, sorry. What did you say?"

"I was talking about our mission to take out the sea monster," she said. "The plan is to leave at noon. I've got a couple of things to take care of before then."

"Alright," I said. "Do you need my help?"

Katherine shook her head. "What I need you to do is get some more sleep before we leave. You look like death."

"Gee, thanks," I deadpanned. "And I've operated under more sleep deprived circumstances before."

"I'm pulling rank," Katherine said. "After breakfast, you're going back to the cabin and sleeping until eleven. Then you can come meet me at the docks and help me finish getting the boat ready." I bit back a comment about how she should've just let me sleep through breakfast. "Oh," Katherine added, "did you ever figure out how to stay dry in water?"

I frowned. As a matter of fact, I hadn't. Poseidon's powers had always been tricky for me to use. Hell, I couldn't even use them until two years ago. Still, even though using my powers drained me (especially when I didn't have the boost from Marianas in trident mode), I'd made a lot of progress. But the one thing that I'd never learned to do was keep myself dry in the water. There had been that one moment last summer, during my fight with Marina, daughter of Oceanus, when I'd gotten a strange surge of power and had dried instantly, but that was different. I couldn't do it on command, and I was pretty sure it was a one-time blessing from Poseidon anyway. It was actually pretty annoying that I couldn't keep myself dry. It came easily to Katherine, to my dad, even to my brother, Matt, but I had a complete block.

"No, I still can't do that," I admitted.

"No big deal," Katherine said. "But in that case, I'd suggest you wear a swimsuit for this mission."

"A swimsuit?" I said uncertainly.

"Yeah," Katherine said. "I know it's not ideal to fight in a swimsuit, but since we'll be out at sea, you're gonna want to be able to move with as much ease as possible. Wet clothes would weigh you down."

I understood _that_. I'd even worn a swimsuit for my fight against the spirit of the Niagara River on my first ever quest. But I hadn't worn a swimsuit since my right arm had been chopped off. I'd dropped out of the swim team, I'd skipped gym class the everyday during the swimming unit… The robot arm was waterproof, that wasn't the problem. The problem was that a swimsuit left the whole thing visible, and I was distinctly against anything that did that.

 _Oh, get over yourself_ , I thought. _Who is going to see it? Katherine knows. It's not like there's going to be an audience out at sea watching you._ "Yeah, alright," I said to Katherine.

"Awesome," she replied. "I'm gonna get going. Go take a nap when you finish eating. That's an order." With that, she stood up and walked over to the table where Yolanda was sitting alone. She placed her hand on Yolanda's shoulder and said something quietly to her. Yolanda nodded, got up, and followed Katherine. I wondered what they were up to, but I didn't spare it too much thought. I had plenty else on my mind.

* * *

After I finished eating, I actually tried to do what Katherine said and take a nap, but I was unable to get back to sleep. Instead, I just kept pouring over the prophecy. _Five shall go into the maze._ So I was getting a larger crew than the usual three. That was bad luck. There was a reason that proper quests were normally limited to three people. But I couldn't exactly _not_ do what the prophecy said. Theo and Jocelyn would come, of course. Then someone to navigate and one more person.

Did I really want to bring Theo and Jocelyn? The prophecy said a friend would die. And no matter what Gwendolyn said about it maybe meaning one of Gaius's friends, I had a gut feeling that it would be one of my friends. And I could not lose either of my two best friends. But I also didn't want to go on this quest without them. I needed their help. I grunted in frustration. Why was this such a catch twenty-two?

 _The son of Kronos shall destroy the veil._ What did that mean? What was the veil? Was destroying it the subject of whatever spell Gaius's people had been working on for the past two years? There were so many questions and no answers. I got the feeling that when I finally did get the answers, I _really_ wouldn't like them.

I lay in my cabin brooding for a while until there was a knock at the door around ten thirty, breaking me out of my reverie. "Who is it?" I called.

"Your boyfriend," came the familiar voice of Augustus in reply.

I rolled out of my bunk and went over to the door. Sure enough, when I opened it, the figure of Augustus Grace stood there, clearly having just arrived at camp. He held a bouquet of flowers out to me. "What are those for?" I asked, perplexed.

"Just wanted to say sorry," he said. "For the fight we had yesterday."

In truth, with everything that had happened the last day or so, I'd sorta forgotten about our fight. It seemed so long ago, even though it had been less than twenty-four hours. Also, flowers weren't really my thing. Still, I appreciated the gesture, and I remembered my guilt over our fight. I took the flowers. "Thank you," I said. "But you don't need to apologize. I overreacted. You were only trying to help. So _I'm_ sorry."

Gus's eyebrows shot up. "You're apologizing to me?" he asked playfully.

"Don't get used to it," I joked, waving a finger in his face. "Remember, the girl is always right. You lucked out this one time only."

Gus grinned. "Understood." He leaned towards me, and I got up on my tip toes to kiss him. I smiled. I was happy we'd made up, despite the fact that I hadn't even remembered our fight until only a minute ago. When things were good between Gus and I, they were great. Still, that definitely didn't fix everything…

After we broke apart, I invited him in. He sat on the edge of my bunk while I found something to put my flowers in. "So what are you up to today?" Gus asked.

"Sea monster hunting," I replied, finding a suitable receptacle for the flowers and placing them on a windowsill near my bunk.

"Sea monster hunting?" Gus repeated. "Are you gonna be okay?"

I felt my eye twitch. Luckily, I still had my back to Gus, so he didn't see. _You just made up_ , I reminded myself. "Yes, I'll be fine," I said, unable to keep all of the exasperation out of my voice. I pretended to adjust the jug holding the flowers slightly. "It's me and Katherine going."

"Oh, okay," Gus said, his tone of voice suggesting it was much better now that he knew Katherine would be with me. My eye twitched again. Then I heard him get up behind me. He came over and kissed the side of my neck, which normally would've made my brain restart and next thing I'd know we'd've been making out for fifteen minutes. But just then I was annoyed at him, which negated the effect. In fact, I was getting a whole lot more than annoyed.

I whipped around, sticking my gloved finger right in Augustus's face. "Oh no you don't," I snapped. Augustus backed up in surprise. "I know what you're up to," I continued. "Kissing me on the neck so I'll get flustered and make out with you. Well that's not happening. I've got a mission to go on soon, you know. And I am definitely not in the mood."

Augustus held up his hands in surrender, though I could tell by the look on his face that he was confused. Maybe he hadn't really been trying to start something up with me. Or maybe he didn't understand why I wasn't in the mood. Either way, I did feel guilty… again. Gods of Olympus, what was wrong with me? My emotions were bouncing all over the place. I sighed. "Sorry again," I muttered.

"It's uh… it's okay," Gus said.

"There's just a lot going on. I'm just so tense and confused and frustrated. And sometimes I take it out on you when you don't deserve it." I didn't mention anything about how, often, he did deserve it.

"It's okay," Gus repeated. "Really, it is. Do you want to talk about what's on your mind?"

I thought about my upcoming Labyrinth quest, which Gus would tell me not to take or he'd beg to go. I thought about the prophecy Gwendolyn had told me last night. I thought about all the in-fighting going on. I thought about my anxiety problems and panic attacks. "I don't want to talk about it right now," I said. "But thank you for understanding." I kissed him quickly again. "I need to get ready for this mission. I should be back this evening."

"Good luck," Augustus said. He walked towards the door. Just before he left, he stopped, opened his mouth as if to say something, decided not to, and left. I was thinking about so many other things that I barely even registered the moment. I checked the time. It was nearly eleven. I changed into my swimsuit, threw my still-messy hair into a ponytail, strapped my sword to my waist and left my cabin for the beach.

* * *

When I went around the corner of my cabin, I saw Jocelyn leaning against the exterior wall. "Sup?" she said casually.

I raised an eyebrow. "Hey."

We started walking together towards the beach. "So you and Augustus got into another fight," Jocelyn noted.

"You were eavesdropping," I noted, slightly annoyed.

"Not intentionally," Jocelyn said. "I was passing by your cabin and saw Augustus go in. I decided to stick around until things started getting steamy, then I could bust in and ruin the moment! That way I'd have even more ammo to tease you with."

"I thought blackmail would be more your style."

"See, I thought about that," Jocelyn said, as if blackmail was a completely normal conversation topic. "But who would I threaten to tell? Chiron? Your punishment would be doing the dishes like once. Not a satisfying payoff. Katherine? What's she going to do about it? You've got ammo on her anyway, I'm sure. Your parents? You told me months ago they've already walked in on you and Gus making out before."

That had definitely been one of the most embarrassing experiences of my life. " _You know your father and I love you and Augustus both,_ " Mom had said. _"And there's nothing necessarily wrong with what you were doing. We just want to make sure you're exercising the necessary precautions."_

 _"All we were doing was kissing,"_ I'd insisted, completely mortified.

Dad had let out a bark of laughter at that. _"Right, and I'm the Dalai Lama."_

"So anyway," Jocelyn continued, shaking me out of the memory, "I decided that there wouldn't really be much point in blackmail. So the next best thing was ruining the mood. But then you had to go and spoil my fun by getting into an argument with him."

"Gee," I deadpanned, "I'm so sorry that I spoiled _your_ fun."

"You should be," Jocelyn replied, matter-of-factly. "So," she continued, shifting gears somewhat, "this clearly isn't an uncommon thing for you two. Fighting, I mean."

I sighed. "No, it isn't. We've been fighting a lot recently."

"Well, to be fair, you guys have always fought a lot," Jocelyn pointed out.

"Yeah," I agreed. "But it was better for a while. These last few months though, it's just been getting worse."

"Did anything specific happen to start the fighting?" Jocelyn asked.

I knew she didn't mean me feeling like he was being overprotective, as there wasn't really a specific instance of that that started our fighting. I racked my brain for some specific event that might've set off our fighting, but nothing came to mind. I shook my head.

Jocelyn was silent for a moment before she asked something that caught me completely off-guard. "Are you in love with Augustus?"

"Wh-what?" I sputtered. "I… I don't know. I've never been in love before. I don't know what being in love feels like."

"Well the reason I ask, is that that might explain your arguing," Jocelyn said.

I knit my eyebrows. "What do you mean?"

"Well, if you love him, then this fighting might just be your relationship going through growing pains," Jocelyn said. "But if you don't love him, then this fighting is a whole different matter."

I considered that. I didn't know what to think. I just couldn't tell if I was in love. It wasn't a feeling I'd ever had before. Was what I felt for Augustus love? Tentatively, I asked Jocelyn, "Have you ever been in love before?"

"Nice try, Jackson," Jocelyn said, "but I ain't saying shit."

I frowned, cursing silently. Jocelyn may have been one of my best friends, but she'd never been very forthcoming about her feelings or her past. Even after two years, I still knew almost nothing about her childhood. I knew her mother had taught her how to drive at a very young age and that her mom was probably dead, but beyond that I had nothing. Theo didn't know any more than I did, and he'd known Jocelyn longer than I had. Jocelyn was just very closed about her past and her feelings. I didn't know anyone that could get as close as she was with Theo and I and still never open up.

Which reminded me…

"Why didn't you tell me you had a run in with Marcus?" I asked.

"Ah," Jocelyn said flatly. "you heard about that, eh? I don't know. It wasn't really anything major. It was an accidental run in. We faced off for like two seconds. He obviously got away. Nothing major."

"Where was it?" I asked. "Nearby?"

Jocelyn hesitated. "Uh… not really. There were some things I had to take care of kinda far away. Anyway, it doesn't really matter. Like I said, the run in was really short. It doesn't make much of a difference. The only thing we really learned from it was that he's the son of Prometheus. Explains why he doesn't fight much."

I wanted to ask her more questions. Clearly she was holding back, but I knew that no matter how much I pestered her, Jocelyn wouldn't share something she didn't want to. Besides, we'd made it to the dock. I could see Katherine at the end of the dock, checking to make sure that the motorboat was in good shape.

"This is where I leave you," Jocelyn said. "Good luck."

"Yeah, thanks for distracting me with things to think about right before I go fight a deadly sea monster."

Jocelyn smirked. "You're welcome. Have fun!" She turned and walked back across the beach and up the slope towards the rest of camp. I turned the opposite way and walked down the dock to join Katherine.

* * *

 **AN: Alright guys, I'll see you all on Tuesday!**


	6. Chapter 6: Not the Only One with Dreams

**AN: Hey guys! Welcome back for the next chapter. This one's a bit shorter, but chapter 7 may very well be the longest chapter from any Elizabeth Jackson book so far, so look forward to that! As always, I want to thank you guys for your continued support. It means a lot to me!**

 **Alright, time for some review responses. First, from N: "** **have you considered a charater who is a titan legacy? Like one of Atlas' daughters has a child"  
A: That's actually an interesting idea that I honestly hadn't given any thought. I don't think I'd introduce any in this series , at least not in a major way, just because of the way I have the world set up. Almost all of the demititans are in their mid- or late-twenties, since the Titan War ended twenty-five years before the first book and that's when most of the Titans were active. So even if any of the demititans had kids, they'd likely be very young in these books (even with teenage pregnancy, we're still looking at ten year old titan legacies). That's not to say that a Titan legacy is impossible or that I wouldn't consider incorporating it ever, but definitely not in any major way in these five stories.**

 **This one is from Random stranger: "I have a strange guess, is Katherine going to be part of Elizabeth's quest because that would be awesome!"  
A: I will say this - Katherine will not be going on a quest with Elizabeth into the Labyrinth.**

 **Alright, that's enough from me. Enjoy the chapter. DFTBA!**

* * *

Chapter 6: I'm Not the Only One with Dreams

"We're getting close," Katherine commented from the boat's wheel.

I looked all around us at the vast expanse of sea stretching out in all directions. It was hard to believe that anyone could be so powerful to control all of this. My grandfather was truly something else. Still, the water didn't look any different. "How can you tell?" I asked Katherine. "That we're close, I mean."

"Jocelyn gave me the latitude and longitude of the recent shipwrecks," Katherine said. "And thanks to my dad, I've got perfect bearings at sea. Not a power you have?"

I concentrated slightly, seeing if I could sense it. "No," I said after a moment. "I got nothing."

Katherine glanced back at me. "Ah well. Maybe that one's just one of those ones that you've got a block for. I wouldn't worry about it."

I continued to look at the sea all around us, still trying to wrap my head around how powerful and vast Poseidon's domain was. Katherine glanced back at me again and noticed the look on my face. "Have you never been out to sea before?" she asked.

I shook my head. "Not this far. Never really had much of a chance. I live in the middle of Manhattan, it's not like my family owns any boats. We've got a small cottage out on Montauk beach, but no boat there. And remember, I never knew about my powers when I was younger."

"Your dad's a professor of Marine Biology, right?" Katherine asked. "Doesn't he have to go on expeditions out at sea sometimes?"

"Yeah, but we don't go with him," I replied. "That's work for him. And it's always on scientific vessels."

We lapsed back into silence again, but it was brief. "Yolanda," I said. "You went over to talk to her this morning. You had to do something with her or help her or something. That's what you were up to this morning, right? What exactly did you have to do?"

Katherine took time to consider her answer. After a few moments she answered, "I wanted to make sure she was going to be okay while we were gone. As I told you, she can't really control her powers, and when she gets emotional they run out of control completely. I just wanted to make sure she could keep it together while I was gone. We went on a walk, that's all. If anything happens while we're out, Chuck knows what to do. After that I went down to the dock to start getting ready."

She wasn't telling me everything, which normally would have annoyed me, but for some reason it didn't this time. Maybe it was because I understood what Yolanda was going through with her emotional troubles – or at least I knew what having emotional troubles was like – and I figured that Yolanda wanted as few people to know the specifics as possible and that Katherine was protecting her privacy. Maybe it was because I was hiding things from Katherine, too: my upcoming Labyrinth quest, the bleak prophecy I'd gotten, my panic attacks…

"I'd have thought the sea monster would show up by now," Katherine mused. "We're in the right place."

"Maybe it's taking a day off," I suggested.

Note: "maybe it's taking a day off" is just as bad as saying "what could possibly go wrong." As soon as the words were out of my mouth, the boat lurched, then flipped, sending Katherine and I flying. I slammed into the water like it was a brick wall. I spun around underwater, trying to get my bearings. Eventually, I righted myself and broke the surface of the ocean. To my right, Katherine popped up, too. Ahead of us, a huge sea serpent loomed out of the water, acid green in color with a long snout housing rows of foot-long sharp teeth. The monster was massive. Just the part sticking out of the water was at least thirty feet long. "Holy Hera," I muttered.

"Great sea monster," Katherine yelled. "We are descendants of Poseidon! These waters are important to many mortals! If you would kindly leave any boats passing through alone, we would greatly appreciate it! Otherwise, we may have to destroy you!"

The sea serpent roared, its scream more like the sound of a bad car crash than anything else. And yes, I knew what car crashes sounded like. I didn't speak sea monster, just horse. But that roar didn't sound friendly. "I'm guessing he didn't say 'oh sure, I didn't know I was causing problems. I'll be on my way.'"

"No, it was more like, 'descendants of Poseidon? Sounds tasty!'" Katherine answered.

The sea monster lunged towards us. Katherine and I shot off in opposite directions. The monster reared back up. Katherine shot upwards atop a water spout and launched herself at the monster. She spun through the air, her sword drawn and deadly. But the blade just sparked off the monster's scales and Katherine slammed into it. I winced. That had to hurt.

I drew my own sword, Marianas, and pressed the trident button in the center of the crossguard. My sword transformed, and suddenly I was holding a five foot trident. It filled me with energy and power. I concentrated and fired a bolt of green-blue energy at the monster. The blast dissipated harmlessly off the monster's scales. It didn't do any damage, but it did attract the serpent's attention. I shot to the right as the sea serpent dove at me. I narrowly avoided its jaws.

I came to a stop and used my powers to leap out of the water. Before the monster had straightened up again I landed on its back. I plunged my trident points into a chink in its scales. The monster roared in pain and thrashed, shooting back up. I yelped, suddenly finding myself dangling from my trident's shaft.

Off to the left, Katherine shot out of the ocean, recovering and reentering the fight. The monster whipped around to face her. I swung around, almost losing my grip on my weapon. While Katherine had the monster distracted, I planted my feet against its neck and tugged my trident free. I plummeted back into the ocean and submerged. Underwater, the monster was almost more intimidating. It was at least two hundred feet long, maybe longer.

I returned to the surface. Katherine was moving around quickly atop a huge water spout, moving in close every time she had an opening and hacking at chinks in the monster's scales. It didn't do much besides make the serpent more angry. What we needed was some kind of plan. _Think Elizabeth. Where is it vulnerable? Where is there soft tissue?_ Two places came immediately to mind: its mouth and its eyes. Since I didn't want to get closer to that mouth than I had to, I decided that an eye was my best bet.

I waited for an opening. The monster turned to the side, following Katherine atop her water spout. Perfect. I made the water suck me in a bit, then shoot me out like a cannon. My trident was extended out in front of me. The trajectory was perfect.

 _Squelch_! The monster's eyeball burst under the points of my trident. It roared louder than it had yet. I fell back towards the water, covered in eyeball slime (yuck!). But before I reached the water, a bit of scaly reptilian hide burst out of the water and slammed into me. I went flying back into the air, then plummeted off in a new direction.

I slammed into the hull of our boat – or what was left of it anyway – leaving me dazed. There was a loud bang next to me. I glanced over and saw that Katherine had joined me. "Fancy seeing you here," I said breathlessly.

"We've gotta change things up," Katherine panted. The monster was still writhing about in pain from its eye injury, but I knew we only had seconds before it recovered.

"I really hoped that stabbing its eye out would vaporize it," I said.

"We're gonna have to hit it harder," Katherine said. "But its movements are too quick. We can't keep doing it like this. We'll have to trap it."

"How are we supposed to trap it?" I asked, my voice a lot higher than usual.

"We trap it in a whirlpool," Katherine said.

"Trap it in a whirlpool?" I repeated incredulously. "That thing is massive! I don't have the power to maintain a big enough whirlpool!"

"You won't be doing it alone," Katherine said. "I can do most of the heavy lifting starting it, but I'm going to need your help maintaining it."

The monster was starting to recover. We were running out of planning time. I didn't like Katherine's plan. Even working together with her, I was almost certain that this was going to be too much for me. But I couldn't come up with any better options. I nodded. "Let's try it."

Katherine nodded back, then leaped into the water and shot off in a curve, making a huge circle around the sea serpent. I waited until she was directly across from me, the monster right in the middle, then I too leaped in the water, shooting off along the same path as Katherine. I felt a massive tug in my gut. My head began to pound. I felt like I was going to be sick. Nonetheless, the whirlpool formed.

The sea monster finally recovered from its shock and pain, but it was too late. It was firmly trapped in the center of the whirlpool. I could feel it writhing against our entrapment. The force of its attempts made my stomach lurch. I knew we couldn't hold the whirlpool much longer. Or at least I couldn't, and I was pretty sure Katherine couldn't maintain it without me.

I had an idea now, though. As I swung around on the whirlpool's edge, I made sure I was lined up with the serpent's spinning head and neck. I fired another bolt of energy from my trident. As I expected, it bounced harmlessly off the monster's hard scales. The serpent roared at me. "Gotcha," I muttered.

I usually didn't do what I was about to, preferring to use bolts of energy. But this time, I fired a sustained beam of energy out of my trident. The beam shot down the monster's throat. There was a strange, high-pitched noise, like a kettle boiling. Blue-green light glowed from between the monster's scales. Foam formed in its mouth. Then it exploded in a starburst of monster powder and blue-green light.

I cut off my beam of energy and wrenched my powers out of the whirlpool. I spun to a stop, sure that I was about to puke and trying my hardest not to pass out. There was a sound next to me and I opened up my eyes. It was Katherine. She was panting and wet with sweat (since the ocean water didn't get her wet). The whirlpool had spun to a complete stop. Katherine was clearly exhausted, but she smiled at me. "Nice one," she said.

"Thanks," I panted. "We make a good sea-monster-fighting team."

"Yeah, we do," Katherine agreed. "We do have one problem, though."

I frowned. "What's that?"

"Our boat is out of commission. It looks like we're going to have to swim back to camp." That thought was so revolting with how tired I was that I couldn't hold back my puke anymore. I vomited, and the sick floated grossly in the water. "Ew, gross!" Katherine said, shooting ten feet away from me.

"Whatever," I panted. "Let's just start swimming. We've got a long way back."

* * *

We missed dinner. Not that I particularly cared. I was so tired by the time we made it back to shore that all I wanted to do was lay down and pass out. We hadn't had to swim the whole way, luckily. A few passing hippocampus noticed us and gladly gave us a lift. Even so, the whirlpool trick had really pushed me to my limits. Katherine went to the Amphitheatre to join the campfire, let Chiron know we were back, and get a smore, but I just went back to the Poseidon cabin. I didn't even bother changing out of my wet swim suit. I just collapsed on my bed. Unfortunately, I dreamt.

My dream started off normally – I was on the highway fighting Gaius again. I felt the terror all over again. I felt the mingled pain and numbness when my arm was chopped off. But where my dream normally ended – with me dropping to the hood of the car screaming – this time it changed.

I found myself in a sparse bedroom. The room was painted in blacks and greys. The walls were unadorned. There was a desk against one wall, covered in papers and maps. One the opposite wall, there was a bed. Laying in the bed was a woman I'd never met in person, but one I'd seen in my dreams before. Her auburn hair splayed out behind her. Her eyes were intense and burned golden like miniature suns. A group of freckles splayed across her nose, but otherwise her skin was flawless and sun-kissed. She wore plain black sweats as she lay in her bed staring at the ceiling, no doubt deep in thought.

There was knock at the door, breaking the demititan out of her reverie. "Come in," she said, sitting up.

The door opened, and someone else I recognized walked in, closing the door behind him. I'd actually met him in person. He was built like a scarecrow, with thick brown hair cut in a wedge. He wore a slim charcoal grey suit with a faint check pattern. His black eyes glinted with intelligence as always. He raised an eyebrow at the woman in the bed, who was glaring at him. "What's with the hostility, Eliana?" he asked in his high, reedy voice.

"Oh shut up, Marcus," Eliana snapped. "Let's not pretend to be civil with each other. You despise me, I despise you. Cut to the chase. What do you want?"

Marcus's voice hardened when he replied. "Fine, play it like that. But what I was going to say is about the one area we are aligned in."

"What is it?" Eliana repeated.

"Elizabeth Jackson," Marcus said.

Eliana rolled her eyes. "Well no shit. She's the only thing we agree on. What about her, I mean."

"I had a dream about her," Marcus said. "She got a prophecy. She's going into the Labyrinth at the same time as Gaius – and you."

My stomach churned. Great, just great. The element of surprise was gone. Eliana got to her feet, a shrewd look on her face. "Have you told Gaius?"

"What do you think?" Marcus said. "Of course not. This is our chance. If you can get away from Gaius while you're down there, you can track her down and kill her. That will stop Gaius's foolishness."

"I just don't understand," Eliana said, no doubt referring to Gaius's "foolishness." "Leaving Jackson alive puts everything we've worked for in jeopardy. And yet he still won't tell me why it's so imperative she be left alive…"

"Gaius never tells everyone everything," Marcus replied bitterly. "You know that as well as I. But this is an opportunity to finally put an end to the Jackson threat. Take advantage of it."

"I'll do my part," Eliana said. "Jackson has been an obsession of Gaius's for too long. It has blinded him to… other things." A hungry look crossed her face, one I'd seen in a dream before. I was pretty sure she had a thing for Gaius. An unhealthy thing, but a thing nonetheless.

"Very well," Marcus said. "I will see you at the council meeting tomorrow." He turned on his heel and left Eliana's room.

Eliana returned to her bed, the look on her face a little different now. "Elizabeth Jackson," she muttered softly. "I'm coming for you."

* * *

 **AN: Yay, an action chapter! I'll see you guys this weekend!**


	7. Chapter 7: Sierra Wins a Contest

**AN: Hey guys! I know I'm uploading this on Sunday, and I'm sorry I didn't get it posted on Friday or yesterday. On the plus side, this is quite possible the longest chapter I've ever written, so you've got a lot to tide you over until Tuesday. Honestly, I might have to change my upload schedule, though I haven't decided for sure, yet. If I do change the schedule, it'll change to Sunday and Wednesday, though by no means have I made a final decision about that. I will still upload the next chapter on Tuesday, and I'll let you know then if I've decided to change my upload schedule.**

 **Anyway, I'd like to thank you guys for all your incredible support so far. I'm really glad you're all enjoying the story :)  
**

 **Before we get into the chapter, I've got just a couple of review responses. First, from Awesome narwhal: "** **is Rhea going to have any children besides the gods?"  
A: It's interesting that you bring up Rhea, because she's got a pretty interesting place in Greek Mythology. I'm not sure that she'd have any new kids, at least not any that are working with Gaius, but I haven't fully decided on that yet.**

 **Next from AnamariaJovel: "Ama-Zhang"  
A: Thanks for the compliment. And funny that you used that word because you're finally going to see a Zhang in this chapter.**

 **Alright, that's all from me. Enjoy the chapter. DFTBA!**

* * *

Chapter 7: Sierra Wins a Contest

Over the next couple of weeks I kept pretty busy. On top of all the normal camp activities, I continued to attend the weekly war council meetings. They were always a mess. People would argue about the most pointless things, especially who got to lead missions. It aggravated me to no end. If we were having so much trouble working together, there was no way we could win the war, regardless of what Chiron said to the contrary. He was right, though. A big victory could be exactly what we needed to get everyone focused. The trouble was, big victories were hard to come by. The demititans themselves were elusive, and no matter how many monsters we took down, it didn't make so much as a dent in their forces. It seemed like my upcoming Labyrinth quest was going to be the best bet for a big victory, but that was not looking promising.

I brooded constantly on the prophecy Gwendolyn had given me. Often, I'd wake up in the middle of the night, lines from the prophecy echoing in my head. _Ultimately, the quest shall fail_ , the prophecy said. I didn't care that prophecies' meanings often weren't entirely clear until they'd come to pass, that line stressed me out more than anything else. Except, of course, for the line directly preceding it. _At the end a friend will die_. I couldn't stand to lose any of my friends. I had lost so much over the last year that losing anything else would probably break me. Plus, Eliana knew now that I'd be entering the Labyrinth. I wasn't sure how to feel about that. On the one hand, she wanted to confront me without Gaius's knowledge. That part was good. I really did not want to run into Gaius. But the tradeoff was that Eliana was planning on killing me, which was not so good. Generally death is what we consider a "bad thing."

And of course, the stress over the prophecy and my upcoming quest only increased my general anxiety. The frequency and severity of my panic attacks began to increase, and I started taking my anxiety meds first thing in the morning every day. Even so, it didn't always do the trick. I hated the panic attacks. They left me helpless and raw. And, of course, worrying about getting them stressed me out more and only made the chances of getting one increase. At one point, it got so bad that I collapsed into my worst panic attack yet when I was walking towards Fort Stoll with Jocelyn and Theo.

It hit me out of nowhere. My imagination was running away with me. I saw Gaius killing everyone I loved in my mind's eye. I forced myself not to scream, not to draw attention to myself. But Theo and Jocelyn knew something was wrong. I was gasping for air as an invisible belt tightened around my chest. I was on my knees, unable to keep walking.

"Oh gods," Theo said, kneeling over me. "What's happening?"

"I'll go get help!" Jocelyn said.

That grounded me for a split second. "No!" I snapped. "Just – just drag me off the trail. I don't want anyone to know." More thoughts and images jumped into my head. Lines from the prophecy played over and over. But Theo and Jocelyn did what I asked and pulled me off the trail before anyone could walk by. They stayed with me as the terror washed over me. Memories came flooding into my mind. Two years ago, in the Mist outside Hecate's palace, seeing my parents writhe in pain as the voice of Kronos taunted me. The dream I'd had about Gaius attacking and beheading Ms. Castellan, his own grandmother. Gaius coming at me on the highway, slicing off my right arm.

"Elizabeth," Jocelyn said sharply. "Focus on my face. Focus on my voice." The sound cut through my fog of panic. Everything seemed dim, but my best friend's face and voice shone through, grounding me in reality. "While you were home in New York, I started playing the next Kingdom Hearts game. I know you only saw pieces of Chain of Memories when I played it last summer, but do you remember those guys wearing the black cloaks? Well they're back in the next one I'm playing, Kingdom Hearts II." She went one about how far she was in the game and what had happened so far. I didn't register all of it, but as she spoke, I started to reign in my panic. My breathing slowed to its normal speed. The visions in my head faded.

My friends must have sensed that the crisis was ending, because they both let out sighs of relief. "What was that?" Jocelyn asked.

I sat up straighter, leaning against a tree. "Panic attack," I muttered, embarrassed. "I've been getting them on and off all year."

"Why didn't you tell us?" Theo asked.

"I didn't want you guys to know how weak I've gotten," I admitted. "And please, don't tell anyone. Not even Augustus. I don't want anyone else to know."

Theo and Jocelyn glanced at each other, but they nodded. "Mum's the word," Jocelyn said.

"Is there anything to make the panic attacks… I don't know, not so bad?" Theo asked. "Can you take medicine? I know there are anti-anxiety meds."

"Yeah, and I take them," I said. "I even took my meds this morning, but they don't always stop the panic attacks. And I've been really stressed lately. It's made it worse. And other than take the pills, there's nothing I can do about them except let them run their course."

"You could, I don't know, see a therapist," Jocelyn pointed out.

"I don't need to see a therapist," I said hotly. Regardless of my protest, my friends continued to look at me with mingled concern and pity. This was exactly why I didn't tell them and why I didn't want them to see me like this. I did not want their concern _or_ pity. It only made me feel worse about myself. Anger blazed inside me. I leaped to my feet, startling Theo. Jocelyn was unfazed. She just looked at me shrewdly. "Look, I'm fine," I said forcefully. "It's not like I get panic attacks every day. Let's not make a big deal about it."

My friends didn't bring up my panic attacks again after that, which I was grateful for, but every once in awhile, I thought I saw them glance at me with worried expressions. I didn't know if I was imagining it or if they really were concerned, but either way, it pissed me off. I resolved not to tell them about the Labyrinth or my prophecy yet. Telling them would probably only make them worry more, and I did not want that. I wanted to be treated normally.

On top of all my frets and concerns about the war, about my upcoming quest (which could very well start any day now), and about the prophecy Gwendolyn had given me, I also worried about my relationship with Gus. Much like my panic attacks, it was hard to tell in the morning what kind of day Augustus and I would have. Some days things would be perfect. We wouldn't fight, we'd spend a lot of time together, and so on. Other days, we'd get into an argument at breakfast time and not speak the rest of the day. And then there were the inbetween days.

All the while, I continued to wonder about what Jocelyn had asked me shortly before my sea monster quest. Was I in love with Augustus? Was all this fighting a symptom of growing pains or was it something else? And, on a related note, did Gus love me? The more I thought about it, the more unsure I was. I'd never been in love before, but if I was, surely I'd be able to tell, wouldn't I?

I wanted to talk to one of the Aphrodite kids about it, but the only Aphrodite camper I'd been sort of close to had been Violet. She had been their head counselor, but at the end of last summer she'd moved to New Rome with her boyfriend, Mike, the former head of the Poseidon cabin. And anyway, Gus was close with most of the kids in the Aphrodite cabin (all of whom were terrible gossips). I didn't want to go to them with my relationship problems because I didn't want it getting back to Gus. Frankly, I wasn't sure he realized we were having issues. And sure, communication is the key to any healthy relationship or whatever. But I didn't want to talk to Gus about all of this until I knew whether or not I loved him.

* * *

The summer solstice came and went without Nico showing up to get me for the Labyrinth quest. With the Feast of Fortuna and the associated trip to Camp Jupiter coming up, I signed up for it. For the first time, I was going to get to see Camp Jupiter and New Rome. At least, for the first time I could remember. Apparently my family had gone there to visit Uncle Frank and Aunt Hazel, who were living there at the time, when I was only a year old, but I obviously couldn't remember that. I was pretty excited about the trip. It would be nice to take a couple of days off and reset myself mentally. Plus, I'd get to see Matt and Sierra, and I missed both of them a lot.

Augustus, it turned out, would not be able to go. "Why?" I asked him when he told me the day before the trip.

"I'm going on a mission to Pennsylvania," he said. "Alex is leading it. It'll probably take a few days, and we're leaving tomorrow."

Alex was actually co-leading it with Katherine, but whatever. Katherine had asked if I wanted to go on it, but I was nervous about committing myself to any longer missions because I didn't know when the Labyrinth quest would start. I had declined.

"Oh, okay," I said aloud. "Well, good luck. Kick some monster tail."

Gus smiled slightly. "Will do. And thanks for the luck." He kissed me quickly, then turned to go get ready. A few steps away, he hesitated, turning back like he wanted to say something.

"What is it?" I asked.

"I – uh… never mind," he said, blushing slightly. "I'll see you in a few days."

* * *

"How do we get to Camp Jupiter, anyway?" I asked Theo and Jocelyn at the campfire that evening.

"Well those of us that can fly in a plane without Zeus blasting us out of the sky do that," Jocelyn said. "But you obviously can't do that. So I guess you'll get to take a pegasus. That's usually what Hades and Poseidon campers do for this trip. Pegasi are neutral territory, after all."

"You're lucky you get to ride a pegasus," Theo grumbled. "Joce and I have to get up super early for our flight but you get to sleep in."

I tilted my head. "How come? Wouldn't a plane be quicker than a pegasus?"

"Pegasi can bend space when they fly," Jocelyn explained. "It drains them, so they can usually only do it once a day." I thought back to some of the stories my parents had told me – Mom, Dad, and Thalia taking pegasi back to Mt. Olympus after beating Atlas; Mom picking up Uncle Jason, Aunt Piper, and Uncle Leo at the Grand Canyon and taking them back to camp. In both of these stories, the pegasi had flown at truly remarkable speeds. I supposed it made sense that they could bend space when they flew.

The next morning, then, I pulled on my leather jacket and glove, strapped Marianas to my waist, shouldered my backpack, and left for the stables. Katherine left the cabin with me, prepared for her mission. She hugged me briefly. "Have fun," she said. "And if you get the chance to see Mike in New Rome, tell him hi for me."

"I will," I said. "Good luck on your mission."

As I made my way across camp alone in the morning chill, I suddenly had an uneasy feeling like I wasn't going to be back for a long time. _Don't be ridiculous,_ I thought. _You haven't heard from Nico yet, and the trip to Camp Jupiter is only two days long. What are the chances he'll come about the Labyrinth in the next two days?_ Even so, the uneasy feeling persisted, especially considering how bad this Labyrinth quest was probably going to be.

When I arrived at the stables, Chiron and Gwendolyn were there, waiting to send me off. "How're you feeling?" Gwendolyn asked.

"Fine," I lied. "Am I the only one taking a pegasus?"

"Yeah," Gwendolyn said. "Katherine and Dan are both going on that quest to Pennsylvania. You're the only camper visiting Camp Jupiter that can't go on a plane."

"Elizabeth," Chiron said, "I know things are stressful and uncertain right now, but do not give up hope. It may not seem like it, but this time we are better prepared for war, and we are handling it better."

"Handling it better?" I scoffed. "Chiron, I haven't been to a single war council meeting where fights haven't broken out."

"It's still early stages," Gwendolyn said. "Once we get a solid win, things will get better."

"And how are we supposed to do that?" I asked. "You're relying on me to succeed in the Labyrinth, but the prophecy straight up said I'd fail. How am I supposed to produce this victory?"

"It did not say you would fail," Chiron said.

"It pretty much did," I countered.

"Elizabeth, it may not seem like it now, but there is hope," Chiron said. "We are prepared this time. We are working closely with Camp Jupiter. We're coordinated. We have a strong chance in this war."

I tried to see it Chiron's way, I really did. A year ago, he might've been able to convince me that it would all work out. Now though… Almost unconsciously, I flexed my right hand. Gaius had been several steps ahead of us all along, and he still was. Our one chance to catch up, even pass him, was this Labyrinth quest. But the prophecy was grim. I just didn't think we could do it – at least not without some major sacrifices. It was hard to be optimistic given the circumstances.

I felt so angry and bitter about the whole thing. I almost lashed out at Chiron, but I held myself in check (for once). He could tell by the look on my face though that he'd convinced me of nothing. He sighed, "Enjoy your time at Camp Jupiter, at least. We'll speak more when you return."

I nodded, then moved past them into the stables. I strolled down the stalls, looking for one pegasus in particular. _Hey there miss_ , came a horse's familiar voice in my head. _Ain't seen you in ages._ The voice was coming from a pegasus with a sleek coat so dark it was almost blue. It was Rocco. I'd met him last summer, when I'd had to sort out an altercation between him and Helen. Since then, Rocco had adopted me as his savior, even though I hadn't actually saved him from anything but his own paranoia.

"Hey, Rocco," I said, going over to his stall. "How're you feeling?"

 _I ain't bad_ , he said. _You?_

I was careful to block my negative thoughts. The thing about having a horse's voice in your head is that sometimes they can sense things you don't necessarily want them to. "I'm not too bad," I said evenly. "Listen, I'm going to Camp Jupiter, and I need a ride. You know how to get there?"

 _Course I do_ , Rocco said. _Hop on, miss, and I'll getcha there before you can say, "can we stop for doughnuts?"_

That worked for me. I opened up Rocco's stall and I climbed on his back. He cantered outside then spread his wings. We rocketed into the air, leaving my stomach behind on the ground. Camp Half-Blood shrunk rapidly beneath us. I'd ridden Rocco before, of course, but I still never got used to the mix of exhilaration and terror that accompanied flying. _Hang on tight, miss,_ Rocco said. He flapped his wings extra hard and everything around me blurred. Then, all of a sudden, the blurry effect faded and we were dropping beneath a layer of clouds. _How's that for fast?_ Rocco asked, sounding tired but rather impressed with himself.

"That was fast," I said breathlessly, trying to recover my bearings.

When we had fully dropped beneath the clouds, I got my first sight of Camp Jupiter. The valley was much bigger than the one Camp Half-Blood was situated in. A sparkling river curved around the outskirts of the valley and entered a huge lake, creating a giant capital G. On the shore of the lake was a city. The buildings were a mixture of modern and Roman architecture. Domes, pillars, glass buildings, statues, fountains, and so on could be found in equal supply. The city was also filled with wide plazas and green parks. New Rome was pretty impressive. Just outside the city limits, there was a hill covered in even more buildings. These buildings were a strange mix, though most were elegant and made of marble. At the top was the grandest building – a huge marble building with rows of pillars supporting a domed roof. That had to be the temple to Jupiter, which meant the hill was Temple Hill.

About a mile away from the city was Camp Jupiter itself. It was built just like a Roman fort, which made perfect sense. The walls were earthen and topped with wooden spikes. At each corner was a wooden watchtower with huge mounted crossbows. Purple banners hung from each tower. The side facing the city had a large gate. The opposite side had a smaller one, facing the river. Inside the fort were rows of buildings situated on a pair of roads that formed an upper case T. Outside the camp, a large field was dotted with trenches and remains of buildings. A group of Roman campers was working hard smoothing out a section of the field and putting up tents.

It was all pretty impressive.

The Romans seemed to have spotted me. Someone yelled from on top of one of the watchtowers. A small group of Romans came out of the main gates. "Looks like that's the welcoming committee," I said to Rocco. "Set me down over there."

 _Roger that, miss,_ Rocco said.

We swooped down low over the river, circled the walls at high speed, and came to a surprisingly soft landing just in front of the Romans. I jumped down off of Rocco. "Hi there," I said.

The leader of the group of Romans stepped forward. His helmet obscured his face, but I had no trouble recognizing his voice. "You're one of the Greeks?"

I raised an eyebrow. "Yeah."

"You're early," he said. "You all aren't due to arrive for another hour."

 _I'm just super fast,_ Rocco said proudly.

"You can cut the crap," I said to the Roman, a teasing edge to my voice. "I know it's you, Matt."

The Roman cursed and pulled off his helmet. His blond hair was messy and his sea green eyes glittered. It was my brother, Matt Jackson. He looked a lot like our dad. He had the same build, the same facial structure. Honestly, the only difference was his hair color. "How'd you know it was me?" Matt asked.

"You're kidding, right?" I said. "You didn't even try to disguise your voice."

Matt grumbled slightly and turned to the other Romans. "Alright guys, it didn't work. We didn't scare my sister. Thanks for helping, anyway." The other Romans departed, taking off their helmets and waving to Matt as they went back to whatever they had been up to before Matt grabbed them to try and pull this silly practical joke.

Matt turned back to me and grinned. "Well at any rate, it's good to see you again, big sis."

"You, too," I said.

 _Hey, miss, can I go rest in the stables?_ Rocco asked. I turned back and looked at him.

"Sure thing. You know where they are?"

 _Course I do_.

"Then go ahead, you've definitely earned a rest."

Rocco bobbed his head in thanks, then turned and looked at Matt. _Hey, mister, is my boy Dominic in?_

I frowned, confused, but Matt knew what he was talking about. "Yeah, Dominic's in the stables."

Rocco whinnied his thanks, then trotted off towards the stables. "Who's Dominic?" I asked.

"One of our pegasi," Matt answered. "Now come on. I'll show you around."

* * *

Matt led the way inside the gates and started to show me around. There were several barracks, stables, a forge, an armory – all the workings of a fortress. But there were also rows of shops advertising everything from armor and weapons to chariots to the latest Eta Electronics devices. At one corner of the crossroads was an impressive two-story building made of white marble with a columned entrance. Over the doorway was another purple banner, this one with the letters SPQR embroidered on it. _Senatus Populesque Romanus_ , the Legion's motto. Outside the building stood a pair of armored guards. "That's the _principia_ ," Matt explained. "Camp's main headquarters and the Praetors' office."

As I looked around, I noticed that the guards on duty outside of the _principia_ were some of the only people actually working. Well, them and the people manning the watch towers. Everyone else seemed pretty relaxed, dressed down in shorts and purple Camp Jupiter t-shirts. Some were over at the shops. I noticed a few other campers playing cards outside their barracks. A group of girls a couple years older than me wore bikinis and lay in beach chairs, tanning. I noticed that Matt's eyes lingered slightly as we passed and he blushed. I punched his shoulder. "Eyes front, man. Come on."

"Oh, shut up," Matt said, his face brighter than the sun.

Purple ghosts, Lares, drifted around, enjoying the day, too. "Everyone seems pretty relaxed," I said. "I thought Camp Jupiter was stricter, more disciplined or whatever."

"Normally we're pretty structured," Matt agreed. "But this is the Feast of Fortuna. We get the day off. Well, full members of the Legion get the day off, anyway. Probies have to keep performing essential duties. The Centurions take turns supervising them."

We continued to make our way through the barracks area. "So did Emily and Riley ever make it here?" I asked. Emily Zhang and Riley Grace had both decided to come to Camp Jupiter this year. But the thing with Camp Jupiter was that first all potential campers lived and trained with Lupa, the she-wolf goddess, for a little while. I didn't know how long that usually took or how long the trip from the Wolf House to Camp Jupiter was.

"Yeah, Emily and Riley both got here about a week ago," Matt said. "But they're obviously still probies, so they have to work until dinner. In fact, they're probably down at the Field of Mars setting up your campsite."

"You keep saying probies," I noted. "Is that short for on _probatio_?"

Matt nodded as he pushed open the door to the Fifth Cohort's barracks. He led the way down the rows of bunks to his own bed and started undoing his armor. "And this is my humble abode."

"I never would have guessed," I said flatly.

Nearby, a group of guys had hooked up a TV and were watching baseball. The Sox were playing. I glanced at the score and scowled. They weren't doing as well as I wanted them to. Matt noticed my gaze and smirked slightly. Like the rest of my family, he was a Yankees fan, so he loved to see my team lose. The guys watching the game glanced over at us. "Hey Matt," they chorused. "Who's this?" one of them, an Asian guy who looked about my age asked.

"This is my sister, Elizabeth," Matt said. "Elizabeth, this is Iroh," he pointed to the Asian kid, "Neil," he pointed to a thin blond kid, "Pierce," he indicated a slightly stout guy with curly brown hair, "and Ted." The last guy looked a bit younger than the other. His dark hair stuck out all over the place and he had a large pimple on the tip of his nose.

"Why were you wearing your armor, dude?" Neil asked.

"I was trying to pull a prank on Elizabeth," Matt said.

"Key word being _trying_ ," I pointed out.

Matt's friends chuckled at the comment. Before Matt could retort, a voice from down the long hall called, "Matt, there you are!"

Striding towards us was a tall Latina girl with long dark hair done in a swell braid over her shoulder. Her eyes were as black as obsidian. Her facial structure and posture were quite regal. She was beautiful, but not in the supermodel/Disney princess kind of way. She was more like a female professional athlete. Undeniably attractive, sure, but with well-toned muscles and constantly ready to kick ass. The Centurion badge pinned to her purple t-shirt definitely seemed like it belonged.

I knew who she was – Amalia Arellano-Sanchez, Reyna and Adrian's daughter. Matt's friends leaped out of their seats and stood at attention. Matt's posture didn't change. "Hey, Amy," he said.

Amy smiled at me. "Elizabeth, good to see you again. How've you been?"

"Fine," I said, spitting out the lie without a second thought. "Congratulations on making Centurion, by the way. I would have texted you when I found out, but I don't think I have your number."

"We'll have to fix that," Amy said. She glanced over at the guys who were still standing at perfect attention and rolled her eyes. "Honestly, you four. You're fine. You have the day off, remember?" They relaxed and went back to watching their baseball game. Amy turned back to Matt. "Have you voted for Praetor yet?"

Matt shook his head. "Haven't gotten around to it. I pretty much woke up, then went and welcomed Elizabeth." I coughed at that comment, but didn't say anything.

"I haven't voted either," Amy said. "I just got off supervising the probies on guard duty. Do you want to walk over to vote together? We can show Elizabeth around a little more."

Matt looked at me. "You okay with that?"

I shrugged. "I'm game. Joce and Theo aren't here yet, anyway. Besides, I want to see how this whole voting for Praetor thing works."

"Alright, let's go vote," Matt said. "Bye guys," he added to his friends, who waved to us in response, their focus fully back on the game. The Sox were at bat, and I kind of wanted to stay and watch, but I allowed Matt and Amy to drag me out of the barracks.

* * *

Matt and Amy led the way out of Camp Jupiter proper and down the road towards Temple Hill. Along the way, I looked down at the big field where the probies made the campsite that my friends and I from Camp Half-Blood would be staying the night. Emily and Riley were presumably down there. "So what Cohort did Emily and Riley end up joining, anyhow?" I asked.

"Third," Matt and Amy said simultaneously. They both looked at each other briefly, then looked away. I raised an eyebrow but didn't say anything. Matt cleared his throat. "We wanted them in the Fifth, obviously, but Sierra's in the Fifth and Riley didn't want his big sister as his Centurion. Although she'll probably be his Praetor soon anyway."

"And I was talking to Emily at dinner the other night," Amy put in. "I guess she and Riley felt like there was a lot to live up to in the Fifth and they didn't want that pressure." I couldn't blame them for that. Uncle Jason, Uncle Frank, Aunt Hazel, and even Dad (during his brief stint in the Legion) had been in the Fifth Cohort.

"Speaking of Sierra," I said, "where is she?"

"Up at the temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus," Amy explained. "That's where voting takes place, and the candidates are expected to stand outside while the ballots are being cast."

"What are the chances that Sierra will win?" I asked. "Matt said probably just now?"

"Chances are pretty good," Amy said. "She's popular amongst most of the other Centurions and Legionnaires. She's a great leader. And even though her own merits are more than enough to get her elected, having the last name Grace certainly doesn't hurt."

Matt was being pretty quiet about Sierra. For several years, he'd harbored a pretty serious crush on Sierra. Last summer he'd finally worked up the courage to tell her, but Sierra hadn't felt the same way. It had been almost a year ago, but I could tell Matt still felt awkward about it. He noticed my shrewd glance and coughed before saying, "Besides, Sierra's running against Devon Roberts, and no one likes that guy."

Amy let out an exasperated noise. "I know right? Gods, he's the worst. Sometimes I just want to kick him in the _podex_. Remember that one time he tried to chew you out because one sword was crooked in the armory after you cleaned it?"

Matt groaned. "Yeah, that was awful. But luckily you came in for the save. What did you say that got him to go away, again?"

"Something like 'Tony wants to talk to you about an opportunity for advancement,'" Amy said, chuckling slightly. "Devon was out of there faster than Mercury running late on a delivery."

Matt laughed. "He was so pissed when he found out that Tony didn't actually want to talk to him." I followed the exchange with increasing interest. Not because I cared about some guy called Devon Roberts giving Matt a hard time, but because of the chemistry I was reading between Matt and Sierra. The way they laughed together. The body language. It was very... intriguing.

"So Elizabeth," Amy said after she and my brother had finished laughing, "you're dating Augustus, right? How are things going?"

I cursed inwardly. Why was everyone so damned interested in my love-life? I didn't particularly feel like talking about my boyfriend or the myriad of problems we were having, so I kept my answer short. "Fine." And then, for good measure, I redirected the conversation back to them. "I heard you guys took down Medusa?"

Matt and Amy got real serious pretty quickly. Sad looks crossed their faces, and I remembered (too late) that their Centurion had died in the fight. Still, they told the story, taking turns and describing how they managed to finally beat the gorgon. I was impressed. And I was able to read even more into whatever was going on between the two of them.

The story carried us all the way to the top of Temple Hill, where the temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus loomed over us. It was an impressive building. I found myself analyzing the architecture like Mom would, but I shoved the thought aside. The front doors were open. Romans moved in and out of the building, casting their ballot for Praetor. One either side of the entranceway were the two Praetor candidates. The one I didn't recognize, Devon Roberts, wore a sneer on his face. Just the look was enough to prove that Amy and Matt were right about him being a jerk. He was built like a car, but not like an impressive one. More like one of those two-person Smart Cars. He was basically a cube. His hair was either dark blond or really light brown. He looked generally unhappy with everything and everyone.

On the other hand, Sierra looked stunning as always. Just like Augustus, who she was twins with, she had chocolate hair and sky blue eyes. Her skin was the same dark tan as her brother's, owing to her Cherokee heritage. I took the steps quickly and hugged her. "Hey! How are you?"

"I'm hanging in there," she said. She leaned in closer and said quietly, "I'm pretty nervous, to be completely honest." I glanced over at Devon, whose unpleasant look hadn't shifted in the slightest.

"I think you've got this election in the bag," I whispered back.

"Maybe," Sierra said quietly, waving to Matt and Amy as they went inside to vote. "But even so, will I be a good Praetor?"

"Of course you will," I said. "I've only heard good things about you being Centurion. Being Praetor is the natural next step."

"I hope you're right," Sierra said. "But we are at war. I want to be a good leader for this conflict. Things are getting crazy. I mean, monster activity is way higher than it was when our parents were our age."

I frowned. I hadn't heard that statistic before, but if it was true, it was very troubling. I opened my mouth to say something, but just then Amy and Matt drifted over after voting. Matt wasn't looking directly at Sierra, and I noticed a small frown tug at the corners of Sierra's mouth. Things really weren't back to normal between them? I mean, I'd figured out that Matt still felt awkward, but come on.

"Votes are in," Amy said. "And all is well with the Fifth Cohort, too. So you've got nothing to worry about there."

Matt glanced uneasily over his shoulder. I looked over, too. Devon was glaring at us. "We should probably get going," he said quietly. "Devon doesn't seem so keen on us just hanging out here."

"Alright, well I'll see you guys at dinner?" Sierra said.

I nodded. "For sure. And after, we can celebrate in your new Praetor house."

I hugged Sierra again, then Matt and I turned to leave, but Amy stayed behind. "You guys go ahead," she said. "I wanted to talk to Sierra about something. It's uh… Centurion stuff."

I could tell that was a lie, or at least not the full truth, but Matt bought it at least, so he waved goodbye. I followed him off across Temple Hill. "Where are we going now?" I asked.

"I want to show you granddad's temple," Matt answered.

* * *

Poseidon's, or rather, Neptune's temple wasn't very big. It was sort of like the Poseidon cabin back at Camp Half-Blood: a low abalone building with sea shells in the walls. "Not quite as grand as Jupiter's," I commented.

"No," Matt agreed. "The Romans have never been very big about the sea or Neptune. But I maintain the temple, at least. Make sure there's always fresh offerings."

I peeked inside. On the altar was a bowl holding half a dozen fresh blueberry muffins.

It had been a long time since I'd spoken to our grandfather. The last time we'd spoken had been on my last quest. He'd warned me that I was going to feel terrible pain, then a couple days later Gaius chopped off my right arm. Talk about an understatement. His failure to properly warn me had left me a bit bitter. And combined with that was his silence. I knew gods couldn't just talk to their mortal relatives whenever they wanted, but I hadn't heard anything from Poseidon since I'd lost my arm.

Of course, my godly grandmother, Athena, wasn't any better. All she'd done was send me a series of dreams last year about Gaius's past. Sort of a "understand your enemy" type of thing. But so far, the dreams hadn't done anything to help me stop the son of Kronos or predict what he was going to do. His grand plan was still beyond me. And just like with Poseidon, Athena hadn't bothered to say anything to me since I'd lost my arm. Maybe there was no connection between those two things. But it certainly felt like there was. It only compounded the anger and hurt I had over losing my arm.

"What about grandmother's temple?" I asked.

"The Romans aren't very big on Minerva, either," Matt said. "But there are a few campers that maintain her temple. No one was maintaining this one until I started to. Amy's been helping me, too, which is nice."

"You and Amy seem to spend a lot of time together," I observed.

"Well, yeah," Matt said. "She is my best friend."

"You sure that's all it is?" I asked shrewdly.

Matt blushed. "I don't know what you're talking about," he said defiantly.

"You know exactly what I'm talking about," I pushed. "You _like_ her."

"So what if I do?" Matt demanded. "It's not like I'm going to do anything about it. The last time I tried to tell someone I liked them, it ended up ruining the friendship. I'm not risking that with Amy."

"Matt, I'm pretty sure you can be friends with Sierra again," I said.

Matt sighed. "I don't know. Things have just been different between us since I told her I liked her. Even though I've mostly gotten over it, it's still impossible to go back on what I said. I just can't face her anymore. I don't want to tell Amy that I like her and just have the same thing happen all over again." I was pretty sure that Matt was the one making things awkward between him and Sierra. If he didn't make things awkward, then I was sure they'd be friends again. After all, it had been a long time. I was just about to tell Matt that when he asked, "Did you know? That Sierra didn't like me back, I mean?"

I shrugged. "Honestly, I wasn't sure. Sierra's never really shown romantic interest in anyone that I know of. But I thought she _might_ like you and she was just really good at hiding it. Obviously my guess was wrong. I was pretty good at reading her. But when it came to romantic stuff, I never could."

"And you never talked about it or asked her?"

"Boys aren't the only things girls talk about when we're alone," I said hotly. "And romance was never something we discussed much." It was true. Sierra just hadn't ever seemed to want to talk about that sort of thing. Odd for a granddaughter of Aphrodite, though I didn't complain about it. Romance had never been my favorite topic to discuss, either. It still wasn't, frankly.

 _Yet thinking about it seems to eat up a whole lot of your time for something you don't like talking about_ , part of me thought.

 _Oh shut up_ , the other part of me responded.

Gods, I was going mad.

Matt seemed to be formulating a response to what I'd just said, but just then my phone went off. I held out a hand to stall him and checked it. It was a text from Jocelyn. _Yo, we're here. Where you at?_

"Looks like the rest of my crew is here," I said. "Let's go grab my friends. Then you can take us to see New Rome. I expect a full tour of the city."

* * *

Dinner at Camp Jupiter was both familiar and totally different. We were served by invisible wind spirits who brought us whatever we ordered. We lounged on sofas around low tables. People would move from area to area, chatting with each other, hopping over the backs of sofas, grabbing snacks from passing wind spirits. Jocelyn, Theo, and I sat with Matt and Amy. After about fifteen minutes of dinner, Emily Zhang and Riley Grace came in with the rest of the probies, looking exhausted. Matt stood up and waved them over.

Emily Zhang was on the short side, with dark skin just a shade lighter than Theo's. She had frizzy cinnamon colored hair, just like her mom. Her eyes, too, matched her mother's – fourteen carat gold. Riley Grace, Sierra and Gus's younger brother, didn't look much like his siblings. His hair was blond, rather than brown. His skin was lighter than theirs. His eyes were a kaleidoscope of colors like his mom's. Unlike his siblings, he had not inherited charmspeak abilities. However, Riley could control both of the powers associated with his granddad Zeus. Or Jupiter. Whatever.

"Hey guys," Emily said as she jumped over the back of the couch across from me.

Riley walked around the couch and sat down. "Hello, everyone," he said politely.

"Hey," I said. "I don't think either of you know my friends Theo and Jocelyn."

"It's a pleasure," Riley said formally to my friends.

Emily rolled her eyes. "Riley, you're such a doofus."

Jocelyn leaned over next to me and said, "I like her."

The seven of us sat around enjoying our food. I kept an eye out for Sierra, who was going around table to table. The voting was over, but everyone wanted to say something to her or offer advice or congratulations. It didn't look like she'd be joining us anytime soon. I turned back to our group. Riley and Emily were talking about an adventure they'd had on the way to Camp Jupiter from the Wolf House.

"So the cyclops was about to grab me," Riley was saying. "Luckily, Emily had recovered from hitting the side of the building, so she teleported me over to her. But the cyclops thought I was still right in front of him because she'd made an illusion."

"You can use magic?" Theo asked.

Emily smiled. "Yeah. I'm pretty good, too. My mom taught me."

The hairs on the back of my neck stood up. _Of course!_ My Aunt Hazel was one of the most accomplished sorceresses of recent years. It would make sense that Emily had inherited the same raw power that her mom had. And if Hazel had trained her, then Emily might be a perfect recruit for my quest. But I also felt a little guilty. Although Emily was practically family, I didn't know her or her younger sister that well. The Zhangs lived out here in California. Plus, Emily was two years younger than me. Hannah, three. Whenever they came over for our annual Christmas party, Hannah and Emily always hung out with Riley. Still, you'd think I'd have known before what powers she had.

I felt guilty for another reason, too. Someone was going to die on this quest. The prophecy said so. Was I really going to put Emily at risk for that? Then again, I was going to bring Theo and Jocelyn. Was putting Emily at risk any worse than that? And at any rate, the idea of bringing Emily just felt better to me than bringing Helen.

Suddenly, Sierra plopped down on the couch next to me, startling me out of my thoughts. "Damn, I'm exhausted. Standing outside granddad's temple all day was more tiring than you'd think." Matt shifted uncomfortably, but he didn't get up and make a scene, so I was grateful for that.

"Hey, Sierra," Jocelyn said. "So what do you think? Did you win?"

Sierra shrugged. "Most of the people I talked to said they voted from me, but we won't know until Tony tells us the verdict."

"Who counts the votes, anyway?" I asked.

"A group of anonymous veterans that live in the city," Amy answered. "The names aren't released so the candidates can't bribe them to… skew the vote. Which is important, because it's happened before. And trust me, Devon wouldn't hesitate to bribe the counters if he knew who they were."

"Now, Amy," Sierra said, slightly sternly, though I could tell she felt the same way, "we can't talk about one of our fellow Centurions like that."

"I've only been here a week," Emily said, "and I really don't like him. Maybe you can demote him once they announce you as Praetor."

"It doesn't work like that," Sierra said. "I won't be able to punish people because I don't like them. That's the kind of behavior that'll cause a mutiny."

From behind me, a voice said, "Hey, Elizabeth."

I turned and saw Tony Perez standing behind the sofa. I stood up and shook his hand. "Nice to see you again, Praetor."

"Likewise," Tony replied. "This is your first time visiting us here, right? What do you think of Camp Jupiter?"

"It's pretty cool," I said. "But I like Camp Half-Blood more."

Tony snorted. "Of course you do. Anyway, Sierra, we're ready to announce the winner. Would you come up front? Both you and Devon are supposed to be up front for the announcement."

Sierra stood up, nervous. "Lead the way, sir."

Tony and Sierra departed, went over to the table where Devon was sitting, grabbed him, and walked up to the front of the room. Everyone's eyes followed them, and a hush fell over the room. Their walk to the front was agonizingly slow. Finally, Tony faced the room and called, "Romans! Guests from Camp Half-Blood! Today is the Feast of Fortuna. We believe that whatever happens today will determine the Legion's luck for the next year. That's why, when we elect Praetors, we elect them on this day. Today the Legion spoke about who you want as your new Praetor, and I believe that whatever your choice was, it will be a good omen for the next year." Unless Devon was the Legion's choice. Tony couldn't say so, but he'd admitted at my first War Council meeting that he did not like Devon. If Devon was elected, I was sure Tony _wouldn't_ consider that a good omen.

The entire room was tense as Tony pulled an envelope out and slit it open. He pulled a card out and said, "Your new Praetor is Sierra Grace!"

I cheered, as did many others. Clapping spread throughout the hall. Amy, Emily, and Riley all yelled, "Yeah, you go Sierra!" Matt didn't whoop, but he did clap. Tony held up his hands for silence. In the celebratory noise, I hadn't noticed that Devon had stormed off and returned to his table with a spiteful look on his face.

"Congratulations, Sierra," Tony said, pinning the Praetor badge to her chest. " _Ave,_ Praetor Grace!"

" _Ave!_ " the entire room chanted in reply.

* * *

After helping Sierra settle into her new Praetor lodgings and hanging out for a while, Theo, Jocelyn, and I returned to the campsite in the Field of Mars in high spirits. It had been a good day. And tomorrow we were going to spend more time exploring New Rome. I was going to meet up with Mike and Violet for lunch. For once, I was able to put all of my thoughts about the war and about my upcoming quest out of my mind.

Jocelyn and I entered the canvas tent we were sharing for the night, calling good night to Theo. I'd just pulled off my leather jacket and glove when there was a knock on the wooden post holding up the canvas. I checked to make sure Jocelyn was decent, then went over to the door flap and opened it. Standing outside was Nico di Angelo, looking jumpy.

"Nico?" I said.

"Can I come in?" he asked.

I stood back and let him into the tent, which was surprisingly tall enough that he didn't have to slouch. "Nico di Angelo?" Jocelyn asked, confused. "What are you doing here?"

"It's time, isn't it?" I asked.

Nico nodded. Jocelyn looked back and forth between us, looking annoyed and confused. "It's time for what?" she asked. "You been holding out on me, Jackson?"

"It's the Labyrinth," I said. "Gaius is going in. Or, I guess he's in, now."

Nico shook his head. "He's going in tomorrow. Do you still want to do this?"

I nodded firmly. "I told you I wasn't going to change my mind."

"Elizabeth, I swear to Hermes, you'd better tell me what the f –"

"Gaius is going into the Labyrinth," I explained. "He's going to try and get Pasiphaë to help him with a spell. But we're going to stop him. That is, if you're coming with me?"

"Of course I am," Jocelyn scoffed. "You think I'd let your dumb ass go into the Labyrinth without me? When do we leave?"

I turned to look at Nico. "When are we going in? Where are we going in?"

"There's an entrance at the top of Mount Tamalpais," Nico said. "Obviously because of the Garden of the Hesperides, we'll have to wait until sunset tomorrow. You have your team figured out?"

I nodded. "I know who I'm bringing, supposing they'll agree to come." It was time. I was going into the Labyrinth. It looked like I would be cancelling lunch with Mike and Violet.

* * *

 **AN: Exciting stuff! I'll see you guys on Tuesday!**


	8. Chapter 8: My Grandfather Gives Bad News

**AN: Hey guys! Welcome back to another chapter of Elizabeth Jackson! As always, thank you so much for your continued support. I won't take up too much of your time with this Author's Note, but I did promise you info on whether or not my upload schedule would be changing. I've decided that if I can get the next chapter ready to be uploaded on Friday, then I will continue with the current schedule. If not, I will be switching to a Sunday/Wednesday upload schedule. I'm actually very far ahead with first drafts (like almost at the end far ahead), but there's a lot of work to go from first draft to what ends up getting posted. Trust me, you do not want to read my rough drafts. So yeah. Keep an eye out for the next chapter on Friday, and if you don't end up seeing it then, you will see it on Sunday (and hopefully much earlier in the day if I do post it Sunday).**

 **Alright, that is enough from me. Here's the chapter. Enjoy! DFTBA!**

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Chapter 8: My Grandfather Gives Me Even More Bad News

The next morning, an emergency meeting of the Roman war council was called to session in the _principia_ to discuss my quest. All the Centurions were there, including Matt, who's been hastily promoted minutes before the meeting. Nico was there, too. The quest was his idea, after all, so it made sense for him to be there to explain the finer points. Elesa and Spencer were brought in on video message. I brought Theo and Jocelyn with me. I still planned on bringing Emily as the magic expert/guide, but if I brought her to the meeting at the start, everyone would know I was going to bring her, and it looked like I'd be facing stiff resistance from a couple of the Centurions anyway, or rather, one which made no sense seeing as I was even a Roman camper. So I'd quickly briefed Emily on everything before being called into the meeting. She'd agreed to come with me, which I was grateful for.

"Right," Tony said once everyone had settled into place, "this meeting has been called to order because Nico di Angelo has arranged a quest for Elizabeth Jackson. Mr. di Angelo, would you please explain the situation?"

"As you may know," Nico said, "I've been assisting your camps in the war effort as best as I am able. The spirits of the dead make decent spies. Not perfect, but I have been able to gather _some_ important information. Thanks to a tip off from Elizabeth last year, I was able to focus my spying efforts on what Gaius was planning to do with the Labyrinth. I have discovered his plan."

One of the Centurions, a dark skinned girl with equally dark hair, rubbed her chin thoughtfully. "The Labyrinth, you said? I thought the Labyrinth was gone."

Another one of the Centurions spoke up – one I recognized, actually. It was one of Tony's friends that I'd met a couple years ago, Luke Eddy. He was a slender young man with wire frame glasses. "To answer your question, Rochelle, a new Labyrinth was constructed during the war with Gaea and the giants. A product of the sorceress, Pasiphaë."

"Pasiphaë is Gaius's play," Nico said. "He's going into the Labyrinth to get her help with a spell of some sort. We have very strong evidence suggesting that he stole a spell book belonging to Hecate, and he's using the information in that book to cast some sort of spell. But clearly, he needs help with it. Otherwise it would have been cast by now. That's why he's going into the Labyrinth – he wants Pasiphaë's help. And it makes sense that he would go to her. She's one of the most powerful magicians that ever lived."

Devon Roberts sneered. "So we're just going to send the Jackson girl into the maze to do… what exactly? Defeat the sorceress before Gaius can get to her? What if she fails? Or worse, what if Gaius catches her? She's already shown that she can't handle the son of Kronos."

Before I even knew what I was doing, I lunged forward. Before anyone could react, I had Devon by the front of his shirt and was holding him up in the air. He wasn't very tall, so his feet dangled above the floor. Was her heavy? Yeah, he was, but I was so angry, I didn't even register the fact. The jibe had gone way too far. "Shut up!" I spat. "You've never faced Gaius. None of you have."

"Elizabeth, put him down," barked Elesa over the video call. I looked over at the television screen displaying her and Spencer. Elesa's storm grey eyes were so dark they were nearly black. I dropped Devon none-too-gently and returned to my seat, fuming. Theo and Jocelyn laid a hand on each of my shoulders. I was pretty sure it was to restrain me if my temper boiled over again.

"To answer your questions," Nico said smoothly, as if nothing ever happened, "she and her partners need not defeat Pasiphaë on their own, at least not permanently. The plan is this: she goes into the maze, subdues Pasiphaë temporarily, and brings her to the surface where a team will help subdue Pasiphaë more permanently. This is important, because Elizabeth's group will likely be tailed by hordes of monsters. What if she fails? She won't. What else did you ask? Oh yes, what if Gaius catches her. The Labyrinth is vast, so the likelihood that their groups will cross paths is slim. Even if they do, Elizabeth would have the best chance of getting out of Gaius's captivity alive. Gaius refuses to kill her because he believes that they have some great prophecy together."

"And is that true?" one of the other Centurions asked me. I recognized her as one of Tony's friends, too: Alicia Hilton, a pretty Asian girl with streaks of red in her hair, big brown eyes, and flawless skin.

I shifted awkwardly in my seat, "I'm not sure. No one seems to know what the prophecy is, though several of the gods I've encountered have indicated that I have an important destiny, even though they claim not to know the details."

"And if you think about it," Sierra said, "it doesn't really matter whether or not there really is a prophecy about Elizabeth."

"That's true," Amy said. "If believing there is prevents Gaius from killing her, should they meet, then Elizabeth is the ideal candidate for this quest."

"I disagree," Devon said. "Elizabeth Jackson has had her chance to prove herself worthy. Her first quest was clearly beginner's luck, because she lost her arm on her second. Even when Percy Jackson went to Tartarus, he didn't fail so badly as to be permanently maimed."

The pressure on my shoulders increased, which was a good thing, because I almost lunged at Devon again. All the things I'd been telling myself were being thrown at my face by another person, and it hurt like Hades. I was so angry and in pain that I couldn't speak. Luckily, I didn't have to. Several people opened their mouths at once to defend me, but my brother beat all of them to the punch. "Shut up about my sister!" he roared. "And don't you dare bring our father into this you self-centered asshole!"

"This is the attitude of our newest Centurion?" Devon sneered. "We don't need a Centurion who can't control his temper."

"And we don't need a Centurion who has no sense of decency!" Tony barked. A hush fell over the room. "Devon, you _will_ _hold your tongue_ or else you shall be punished for insubordination. Because Elizabeth is part of Camp Half-Blood, it is not up to us to tell her whether or not she can lead this quest. That is up to her superiors. Frankly, we are just here so that we know what's going on."

Everyone looked at the screen, where Spencer and Elesa were watching everything. "It's fine by me," said Spencer.

Elesa considered a moment, meeting my eyes. I'm not sure what she was thinking, but I silently pleaded my case. Elesa nodded. "I approve as well."

"Theo and Jocelyn are your quest partners, I assume?" Amy asked.

"Well, you see, the Oracle back at Camp Half-Blood gave a prophecy," I said slowly. "The full details are not important and they are my business," I added before anyone could ask. "But it did say that the quest would have five members. So Theo and Jocelyn are only two of my companions. I also need a guide, someone skilled with magic. I would like to bring Emily Zhang as my guide, if that's okay."

Nico looked at me in surprise. Emily was his niece, and I was sure he didn't like the idea of her going into danger. But just as the decision on whether or not I could go into the Labyrinth didn't lie with my parents, the decision on whether Emily could did not lie with Nico. He seemed to understand that, though he didn't seem to be the hugest fan of the idea. Devon didn't look like the hugest fan, either, but he kept his mouth shut for fear of the promised punishment. Sierra and Tony looked at each other. "So this is more than just keeping us in the loop, then? You need our permission for Emily to go?" Sierra asked. I nodded.

"It's fine with us," Tony replied. "So long as her Centurions agree. Leila, Rochelle?"

Rochelle turned to the girl next to her, who I could only assume was her co-Centurion, Leila. Leila was a Middle Eastern girl – or at least I assumed she was based on her skin tone and the head scarf framing her face. They chatted quietly for a few seconds. Then Leila turned to me. "Emily Zhang is on _probatio_. You understand that right? She's not yet a fully-fledged member of the Legion. She's not proven herself yet."

"She just hasn't had a chance to," I said. "I'm not bothered by the fact that she's still on _probatio_. I trust her. She's the right person to bring, I know it. I already spoke with her, and she's willing to do it as long as you grant her permission."

Leila and Rochelle turned to each other, exchanged a few more words quietly, then turned back to me. "Alright, that's fine with us," Rochelle said.

"That's four," Matt pointed out. "Who else are you going to take?"

"Actually, Matt," I said, "I was hoping it would be you. Will you come on this quest?"

"Objection," Devon said, no longer able to hold in his grievances. He turned to Tony and Sierra. "First you made the mistake of making this boy a Centurion. Do not send him away while he still knows nothing of his role."

That was too much for Tony, who shot to his feet, red in the face. "Insubordination!" he yelled. "Outside, now!" Devon scrambled to his feet and flew out of the room at light speed. The sight of Devon running away with his tail between his legs brought me a lot of satisfaction. Tony took a deep breath, then said, more calmly, "I'm sorry everyone. If you'll excuse me, I have a disciplinary problem to handle. Sierra, the meeting is all yours."

Sierra shifted nervously in the Praetor's seat, but she nodded. She adjusted her new purple cloak about herself as Tony left the room. She cleared her throat. "Right. So. Since Matt is a Centurion, so long as the Praetors approve it and he agrees, he can go on the quest. And I approve it."

"Thank you, Sierra," Matt said, though he wouldn't meet her eyes. He turned back to me. "I will go on your quest."

I smiled gratefully, though a weight settled in my stomach. Would Matt be the one to die on this quest? Which one of my friends was doomed? I pushed the thoughts to the back of my mind before they could take control.

Luke Eddy cleared his throat. "Sierra? Are we going to provide resources for this quest? It is a joint venture between our camps."

"Yes, of course," Sierra said. "What resources do you need, Elizabeth?"

"Not much," I said, trying to forestall any other arguments there might be. While no one had attacked me like Devon, a couple Centurions looked unhappy at the thought of allocating me too many resources. "We don't need much money, since we'll probably spend most of our time in the Labyrinth. Flashlights would be helpful, though. Maybe those ones that can clip to backpack straps? If you have them, of course. And some medical supplies, maybe?"

"It will be done," Sierra said. "Is there anything else?"

"What about transportation to the Labyrinth?" Amy asked.

"The nearest entrance is on top of Mount Tamalpais," Nico said. "I'll shadow travel them there around sunset. That gives Elizabeth and her team several hours to prepare."

"You mentioned a team waiting to help Elizabeth more permanently subdue Pasiphaë," Leila pointed out. "Do you have a team already assembled?"

"I do," Nico said. "And they'll be waiting on top of Mount Tamalpais as well."

Sierra looked around the group. There were no other comments, so she said, "Alright, meeting adjourned. Luke, would you please gather the supplies we have agreed to supply for Elizabeth's quest? The rest of you, back to work."

The Centurions all got up and began departing. The video call disconnected, but not before Elesa shot me one last appraising look. Matt turned to me. "I'll go pack. I'll also be sure to fill Emily in on everything. Do you want to meet right outside when it's time to go?"

I nodded. "Just before sunset. And Matt. Thanks."

He nodded, then turned to leave. Pretty soon, it was just me, Theo, Jocelyn, and Nico with Sierra, slumped in her Praetor's chair. She was rubbing her temples. "Stressful first day," she muttered. She glanced up at us. "Theo, Jocelyn, thank you for keeping quiet during the meeting. I have a feeling that if you'd said anything it would have only added fuel to Devon's fire."

"I did, too," Jocelyn said.

"I just didn't have anything intelligent to say during the meeting," Theo said.

"Oh, Theo," Jocelyn teased, "you never have anything intelligent to say."

"Hey!"

"I thought that these things were usually senate meetings?" I asked Sierra.

"During peace time," she said. "During war time, Praetors have the prerogative to conduct war business in whatever fashion they want. Tony and my predecessor, Valencia, decided to do it this way."

Nico turned to us. "I'll be back just before sunset," he said. "I have some last minute things to take care of."

"Who's guarding the entrance we'll be taking?" I asked before he could shadow travel away.

"You'll see this evening," Nico said. "I like to save some surprises. But I think you'll be pleased." With that, he strode to the corner of the room where there was a decent shadow and melted into it. My friends and I turned back to Sierra, who seemed deep in thought.

She looked up at me and smiled sadly. "You'd better go pack, Elizabeth. It looks like we won't be doing much catching up today."

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I had several things to take care of before Nico got back, but lots of time to do so. I packed my bag, went over to the stables to tell Rocco I was going on a quest and to feel free to return to Camp Half-Blood, and sent Augustus a text explaining why I wouldn't be back so soon. He was still away on his quest in Pennsylvania, so a call probably wasn't the best idea. Plus a call would've inevitably led to a drawn out conversation and I didn't really want that. After all of that, I still had a lot of time to kill, and I didn't want to hang around in the Greek campsite. Theo and Jocelyn were pestering me about the contents of my prophecy, and I wasn't going to share it with anyone. It was just too frightening. So I wandered around Camp Jupiter aimlessly. Eventually, I found myself leaving the camp proper and wandering over to Temple Hill, to the temple of Neptune.

I stood in front of the altar in the modest building. Today, the offering of choice was a bowl of assorted fruits. I wasn't sure why I was here. Poseidon hadn't spoken to me in more than a year. I wasn't sure why he would now. Still, I attempted to reach out. "Grandfather," I said softly, "I know we haven't spoken in a while, but in the past you've always given me guidance for my quests. Please, help me again now."

There was silence. _Of course it didn't work_ , I thought angrily. _It was stupid to hope it would._

"Not that stupid," came a deep voice in reply, making me jump. I whirled around. Standing in the temple's doorway was my grandfather, though he looked a little different. He was taller and leaner. His smile lines, while present, were not as deep. His beard was well-trimmed. Most important of all, he wasn't wearing that repulsive Hawaiian shirt he normally wore. Instead, he wore a fancy uniform, like the captain of a cruise ship.

"I see that I surprised you," he said with a chuckle.

"I just… I didn't think you would respond," I said. "I haven't heard anything from you all year."

My grandfather sighed. "After our last chat, Zeus and I had a little spat. He seems to think I've been too cavalier giving out information to you. I was forbidden further contact with you."

"So how are you here?"

Poseidon smiled slightly. "Zeus told Poseidon he couldn't contact you anymore, but Jupiter never said anything about it to Neptune." I actually laughed aloud. The loophole was brilliant. "It is a loophole I could only exploit here in my temple," Poseidon, or rather, Neptune, went on. "And I fear that even so, this shall be the last time we talk for a long time. So please, listen carefully. We do not have long before Jupiter notices." I nodded, ready for whatever information he had.

"While you are in the Labyrinth," Neptune said, "most gods will be unable to reach you or help you. The maze and its creator are too crafty, even for Death. However, there are two gods who have powerful spheres of influence in the maze and may be able to help you, should you prove yourself worthy."

"Which gods?"

Neptune shook his head. "If I said, then Jupiter would notice immediately, and I would be unable to give you my warning." Warning? That sounded ominous. "I will say, though, that the two gods who might help you were never worshipped by the Greeks." Which meant they were Roman gods. I started compiling a mental list of Roman-only gods.

"You mentioned a warning just now," I said. "I'm almost afraid to ask after your last warning to me," I held up my robot arm, "but what is it?"

"You must not die in the Labyrinth."

I felt chills run down my spine, as Neptune's words reminded me of my prophecy. _At the end a friend will die_. Still, the warning seemed pretty obvious. "Oh darn," I said in a flat voice. "I was really hoping to give that death thing a try. I hear it's all the rage these days."

"Elizabeth," Neptune said seriously, "dying in the Labyrinth is not like dying anywhere else. Thanatos himself cannot penetrate the maze. That's why so many Underworld escapees have taken refuge there. However, that also means that if you do die there, your soul will not go to the Underworld. Instead, your soul will belong to Pasiphaë."

The room seemed to drop ten degrees. I zipped up my leather jacket nervously. "That uh… sounds bad."

"Pasiphaë hates the gods and our descendants," he continued. "She would like nothing more than to own your souls, especially that of your friend Emily, whose mother disgraced Pasiphaë so badly."

The belt was wrapping around my chest again, but I refused to lose my cool in front of Neptune. "So, let me review," I said. "There are only two gods that might be able to help me in the Labyrinth and don't die or else Pasiphaë will own my soul forever?"

"That is correct," Neptune said. He laid a hand on my shoulder. He opened his mouth to say something else, but just then thunder shook the hillside. Neptune sighed. "Jupiter has discovered the loophole. I must leave. Goodbye, Elizabeth, and good luck."

There was a gust of sea wind, and Neptune was gone. I hurried out of the temple and found a solitary spot as quickly as I could. I sat down hard. The Labyrinth was so real now. And according to my prophecy, not only was I going to fail, but someone was going to die. Plus, I very well might run into Gaius again. I couldn't help it. I fell into a panic attack like it was Tartarus itself.

* * *

When the sun was getting low in the sky, I met my team mates in front of the _principia_. Jocelyn and Theo were chatting with Luke Eddy, who was handing over our Camp Jupiter provided supplies. Jocelyn wore a brown duster over her orange camp t-shirt. Her short caramel was unusually tied back. On one hip hung a holster with her gun. In the past, she'd used a revolver, but this time she carried with her a 9mm. I wondered why she'd made the change. On her other hip, her whip made of Celestial Bronze filaments dangled from a belt loop. Theo was putting the new supplies in his backpack, which could transform into his bow and quiver at a moment's notice. A handy magic item. Not many people could say that their weapon also served as storage. He'd also strapped a knife to his thigh, just in case he got caught in close quarters fighting.

A little bit away, Emily was talking with Riley. She's pulled back her frizzy hair and wrapped it in a red bandana. Instead of the standard issue gladius all Legionnaires got, Emily had a spatha, one of the Roman cavalry swords, swung over her back. It was strapped in such a way that her backpack was slung over it. I had another surge of guilt, and I almost told Emily I'd changed my mind about having her along. She was so young, after all, and when we found Pasiphaë, she'd no doubt try extra hard to kill Emily. But I shoved it aside. Emily was no younger than I was on my first quest. And it was too late to change plans now, anyway.

Emily and Riley high fived, then went off in opposite directions. Emily towards me, Riley back to his barracks. He waved goodbye to all of us as he left, yelling out, "Good luck."

Emily must have seen some of my worry in my face. "What is it?" she asked. "Is something wrong?"

"Nothing besides the fact that we're about to embark on an extremely dangerous quest," I said.

Matt also stood apart from the rest of the group, having what looked like a pretty serious conversation with Amy. His new Centurion badge was pinned to the front of his purple t-shirt. His gladius was strapped to his waist. Amy looked concerned, worried even. Matt looked determined. After a few more moments of quiet conversation, Amy hugged Matt tightly. Matt hesitated before hugging back. It lasted quite a while. Then, Matt and Amy split apart and walked over to us. I noticed that Matt was blushing slightly, but I didn't give him any crap about it. At least, not yet.

"I just wanted to see you all off," Amy said.

"Thanks," I replied. "I know losing your co-Centurion can't be easy. I'll make sure to get Matt back to you as soon as possible."

"That's appreciated," Amy said. "And hey, maybe you can knock a few of those loose screws back into place while you're on this quest."

"Hey," Matt protested.

"I'll try," I said. "Though those screws have been loose as long as I can remember. Might take a while."

"Hey!" Matt protested.

"Are you making fun of someone without me?" Jocelyn asked, turning away from Luke Eddy.

I laughed. "Sorry, Joce."

Just then, the doors to the _principia_ opened, and Sierra, Tony, and Nico all came out. Tony shook all of our hands, wishing us luck. When he got to me, he added, "You'll do well, Elizabeth. I have the utmost faith in you."

I tried not to throw up when he said that. "Thank you, Tony," I said. "I'll certainly do my best."

Sierra hugged me. "Good luck, Elizabeth," she said. "Stay safe."

I rolled my eyes. "It's not possible to stay safe on a quest. But I'll do my best to stay in one piece. Or keep what's left of me in one piece, anyway."

Sierra and Tony stood back, as did Amy and Luke. Nico stepped forward. "Are you all ready?" We each nodded in turned. Nico held out his hand. "Then grab hold." We linked hands and grabbed onto Nico's. I looked up at Sierra, Tony, Amy, and Luke one last time and tried to smile confidently, though I'm pretty sure it just came across as a grimace. Then we faded into our own shadow.

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 **AN: See you guys either on Friday or on Sunday!**


	9. Chapter 9: Attack of the Giant Rodents

**AN: Hey guys! So as you see, I wasn't able to post on Friday. So, from now on, expect chapters on Sunday and Wednesday. I'm sorry about the schedule change, but I do think this is going to work better with my schedule. Thank you for understanding and thank you for your continued support!**

 **One review to respond to this time, from Soricon. "** **do you remember in the battle of the labyrinth when Nico came into it without originally being in the quest will someone that we know well enter the maze after Elizabeth to help her."  
A: Interesting question. But to answer the question either way would be a spoiler, so I'm not gonna say yes or no.**

 **Alright, that's all from me this time. Enjoy the chapter and DFTBA!**

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Chapter 9: Attack of the Giant Flying Rodents

We came out of our shadow travel next to a road on a mountainside. Across the road, the land fell away off a cliff. The air smelled minty – eucalyptus, I realized. The road was abandoned. Slightly ahead of us, fog drifted across the road, the orange sunset bouncing off of the water particles.

"Oh gods," Matt muttered. I glanced over at him. He was incredibly pale. "I do not like shadow travel."

"You'll be okay," Nico said, handing him a bar of chocolate. "It can be a bit disconcerting the first time you do it. Eat this. Getting food in your stomach is the best way to feel better."

Matt munched on the chocolate bar. Meanwhile, I turned to Nico. "So what? We just go through this sheet of fog? I'm guessing it's actually the Mist and is hiding the garden of the Hesperides."

"Yeah, it's the Mist alright," Emily muttered, moving forward towards it. "It's very thick here. And I can sense a dark force past here."

"That'd be the remains of Mt. Othrys," Jocelyn said. "The Titans made a good choice when they built their fortress here."

"We're going to wait here a minute," Nico said. "Someone from the team defending the Labyrinth entrance will come get you guys and show you to the top. I'm not seeing you in."

I looked at him confused. "You're not working with the team defending the Labyrinth entrance?"

"I'm working with them, but I don't like spending more time with them than necessary," Nico said, a frown on his face. "And trust me, the feeling is mutual."

"Well does your… acquaintance, I guess?... know we're here?" I asked. "Because we don't have much time until the sun finishes setting –"

"Two and a half minutes exactly," Theo put in.

"– so you might just have to bite the bullet and show us to the mountain top on your own," I finished.

"That won't be necessary," a familiar voice said. I whirled around, and just outside of the fog was a teen girl with short, spiky black hair, a silver circlet around her brow, grey camo pants, and a black Green Day t-shirt. It was Thalia Grace.

"Thalia!" I exclaimed. "The Hunters are the ones covering the Labyrinth entrance?"

Thalia nodded, smiling. "I'll explain everything while we walk. But it's good to see you, again, Elizabeth. And Matt! My goodness, you're a lot taller than I remember."

"It's good to see you again," Matt said, smiling back.

"And you must be Emily Zhang," Thalia went on. "And you two are Elizabeth's friends, right?"

"Jocelyn and Theo," I said.

Thalia shook their hands, then said, "But you were right, Elizabeth. We should get going up the mountain."

We turned to say goodbye to Nico. Emily gave him a big hug. He placed a hand on the back of her head as he hugged her back. He locked eyes with me, and I knew he was pleading with me to keep her alive. I nodded. Someone would die on this quest, there was no stopping that. But I would make sure that it wouldn't be Emily. "Good luck, all of you," Nico said. Then we turned back to Thalia.

"We've got to go through this fog," Thalia said. "But if you're actually going to make it through to the garden of twilight, you've got to focus on me, alright?" My friends and I nodded, and followed Thalia into the fog. I glanced back one last time, and saw Nico raise a hand in farewell. Then we passed through the fog. Everything around us changed.

The paved road was suddenly a dirt path. All around us, the garden practically glowed it was so beautiful. There were nearly uncountable varieties of flowers. The most magnificent feature of the garden was the huge tree with golden apples. The apples of immortality. The smell was… intoxicating. I would've been tempted to run over and pluck one from the branches if not for the dragon coiled around the base of the tree. The top of the mountain, which was much closer now, had a dark storm brewing over it. The remains of black stone walls were just visible from where we stood.

The other remarkable thing about the garden was the amount of activity. Hunters moved about in silvery clothing. Wolves dashed across the hillside. Tents were pitched wherever there was a clear space. The dragon was surrounded by a perimeter of forklifts, and I noticed older women moving about the garden and mountaintop in pantsuits.

Theo let out a low whistle. "The Garden of the Hesperides," he said.

"Quite the operation," Jocelyn observed. "What is all this?"

Thalia walked and talked, leading us up the dirt trail to the top of the mountain. "We're here because of you guys. Nico found me in a dream and explained everything. Your quest into the Labyrinth is an important one. You might be able to stop the son of Kronos's plans. We know that you might be followed when you leave, and even if you aren't you'll need help subduing Pasiphaë. So I agreed to bring the Hunters to help. I got in touch with Hylla, queen of the Amazons, and they agreed to help, too."

"And Diana and the other Hunters were fine with doing something a man suggested?" Emily asked skeptically.

Thalia frowned. "Well unfortunately, Artemis isn't with us right now. Zeus called her back to Olympus to help with 'other matters.' What it really is, is that my idiot father didn't like how much we were doing to help your war effort. He thought we were getting too involved." I ground my teeth. Zeus was more of a hindrance than he was a help. It was almost like he wanted to lose this war. "Anyway," Thalia went on, "when Nico contacted me and told me that _you_ would be leading the quest, Elizabeth, then I knew it wouldn't be a hard sell to the others. After all, you are a powerful young maiden, one with the spirit of a true Hunter. They were fine with it."

"Uh, well, I am dating Augustus," I said awkwardly.

"Yes, but you're still a _maiden_ , right?" Thalia asked, stopping and facing me. "Not that I care, but if you're not, keep it to yourself. There are several Hunters here who wouldn't take well to the news that you weren't."

My face burned. "You uh… don't have to worry about that. I'm still a maiden."

"Ha! I win!" Theo exclaimed from behind me. I whirled around and saw him holding out a hand to Jocelyn. "Pay up, Joce."

Jocelyn grumbled but dug a drachma out of her pocket and put it in Theo's palm. My face was so hot now, I was surprised that my friends didn't catch fire. I gaped at them. "You – you made a bet about –"

"Anyway," Thalia said delicately, moving on, "the Labyrinth entrance is right up at the summit."

We walked in silence for a few more yards, then crested the top. The sky above was so dark, it made it look like we were in a cavern. The ruins of the Titan's fortress were kinda pathetic. There were bare chunks of wall six or seven feet high in a few places, but other than that you couldn't tell there had been a palace on top of this mountain. Hell, if I hadn't dreamed about the place last year, then I wouldn't have believed it. In the center of the mountain, a gigantic man kneeled, the sky funneled down onto his back. He yelled and cursed. Every time he did, one of the Hunters or Amazons standing guard around him would poke him with a spear.

Two people were standing nearby. The first was Celia, one of the Hunters I'd met last year. She looked about twelve, though I knew that age was deceptive with Hunters. She had long strawberry blonde hair pulled into a ponytail and sharp blue eyes. When we'd met before, I'd gotten the impression that she wasn't my biggest fan, though it might've just been that she had a brisk personality. Celia was having a conversation with an older woman, one of the Amazons. She looked quite a bit like Reyna and Amy. Same dark hair (although this woman's had streaks of grey in it), same black eyes, same regal face. She wore an ornate belt. I could only assume that this was Hylla, Reyna's older sister and the queen of the Amazons.

They turned towards us when we crested the hill. Hylla smiled slightly. "Ah, our guests have arrived. You must be Elizabeth Jackson?" We shook hands.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Queen Hylla," I said respectfully. Hylla greeted Jocelyn and Emily, too, but completely ignored the boys. From the slight twitch in Matt's eye, I could tell he didn't entirely appreciate that.

I turned to Celia. "Good to see you again."

"Hello, Elizabeth Jackson," she said shortly. Then she turned to Thalia. "Atlas's status hasn't changed."

Thalia nodded. "Good. Let's continue monitoring. Did you put together a guard rotation?"

"Yes, I did," Celia said.

Thalia turned back to me. "To be completely honest with you, helping you isn't the only reason we're here."

"Atlas," I said, nodding to the center of the mountaintop. "You want to keep him contained. I've heard the gods are worried about the Titans getting involved on the side of their children."

"Yeah," Thalia said. "And with a Labyrinth entrance right here, they could come out and free Atlas."

"Which would be disastrous," Hylla said. "Atlas was a great warrior. He could be a great boon to the demititans. By stationing here, we kill two birds with one stone. We can help you subdue Pasiphaë and we can stop any demititans from taking the sky from Atlas and setting him free."

"Anyway, you're here for the Labyrinth entrance," Thalia said.

"That'd be helpful," Jocelyn replied flatly.

Hylla and Thalia led the way over to a chunk of wall just like any of the others. I frowned. "Uh, this is just a wall."

Emily stepped forward and pressed her hand against the wall, her eyes shut. "It's not just a wall," she said. "They're right, this is the Labyrinth entrance." Suddenly, the outline of a door glowed blue in the wall. In the middle of the outline, the wall disappeared. Instead of just looking out over the edge of the mountaintop, like you'd expect to see on the other side of the wall, the doorway opened into a pitch-black corridor made from rough hewn bricks.

"Whoa," Theo said softly.

"Nice one," Matt added to Emily.

Emily shrugged humbly, though I could tell by the look on her face she was pleased with herself. "It was nothing" she said. "If you know what to do, anyone can open it."

I turned back to Thalia and Hylla. Behind them, Celia was walking towards the people guarding Atlas. "Thank you for holding down the fort," I told Thalia and Hylla.

Thalia shrugged. "No problem. Keep yourselves alive, okay?" _Easier said than done_ , I thought darkly.

"Bring us back some enemies to fight," Hylla added.

I chuckled darkly. "I don't think there'll be any problem doing that." I turned back to my friends, who were looking to me to lead this quest. One of them wasn't going to make it, according to my prophecy. I felt panic rising in my throat, but I pushed it down. I couldn't afford to focus on that. I took a deep breath. "Well… here goes nothing." I led the way into the maze. As soon as we all passed the threshold, the wall slammed shut behind us, putting us in total darkness. We were officially in the Labyrinth.

* * *

My chest tightened as the reality of the situation set in. We were in the Labyrinth. And so was Gaius. He could be waiting for me just a few feet ahead. _Stop it_ , I thought harshly. _You're gonna give yourself a panic attack._ I was half-tempted to dig into my backpack and pull out my anxiety meds, but I'd already taken my dose today and Will had been very clear when he'd written my prescription.

 _"Only one dose every twenty-four hours,"_ he'd said. _"And only if you need it. These meds are highly addictive. And remember, they won't solve the problem, only make it easier for you to manage your panic attacks. You really should see a therapist."_

I had followed his directions, except for the bit about the therapist. The last thing I needed was to get addicted to my anxiety meds. I did not want to be any weaker than I already was. And while it was true that I'd started taking them every day, it was only because I really couldn't afford to lose my cool at war council meetings or on missions. And I wasn't about to lose my cool on this quest. Jocelyn and Theo may have already known, but I really didn't want Matt and Emily finding out.

Somewhere to my right, Jocelyn said sarcastically, "Man, it would suck if any of us were afraid of the dark."

"Some light would be helpful, though," Matt said, and from the rustling sound coming from the same vicinity of his voice, it sounded like he was digging through his bag for a light.

"I've got it," Emily said. Suddenly a beam of light appeared to my left, temporarily blinding me. I looked around at my friends, who were squinting, trying to adjust to the light. Emily clipped her light to the shoulder strap of her backpack. Matt found his own light and did the same thing. After a couple of minutes, we all had lights clipped to our backpacks.

"Okay, what now?" Theo asked, looking at me.

"Now we hope Emily can tell what way we need to go. So how about it Emily? Do you know how to guide us?"

Emily closed her eyes for a two count. When she opened them again, she nodded firmly. "I know how to guide us. I can sense a powerful source of magic that could only be Pasiphaë's place."

"Lead the way, then," I said, motioning her on.

"Actually, this way is better," she said, turning away from me and starting to walk. I glance at Jocelyn and shrugged, then we set off into the maze.

* * *

We'd only been walking for about five minutes when we hit our first snag. From the front of the group, Emily suddenly yelled, "Hit the dirt!"

My friends and I dropped to our stomachs. And not a moment too soon. Metal spikes shot out of the ceiling, halting only inches above our new positions flat on the floor. Dust fell from above us. We were all silent for a moment. After a minute, Emily called back in a shaky voice, "Is everyone okay?"

" _Di immortals_!" Jocelyn cursed. "A little more warning next time! Or maybe don't lead us down the passage with spikes in the ceiling next time!"

"I'm sorry," Emily said miserably. "I didn't sense the trap until moments before it activated."

"It's okay," Theo said, his voice surprisingly calm. "We're alive, that's what's important."

"Yeah," Matt agreed. "If you hadn't been leading the way, that definitely would've killed us."

"Let's just keep moving," I said, my voice slightly hoarse. "Emily, are we still going the right way?"

"Well I don't know that there's a _right_ way," Emily replied from the front. "But this is the best way to go to get to Pasiphaë." That _sounded_ like the "right way" to me, but I didn't say anything.

Instead, I replied, "Let's get out from under these spikes. Catch our breath."

We army crawled for about ten feet before we could get out from under the spikes. We clambered to our feet, dusting ourselves off. I turned back towards the spikes and tapped them with one finger. The metal pinged softly. "That would've been a nasty way to go," I said lowly.

Theo looked around nervously. "I wonder if there are any more booby trap." Jocelyn and I gave him withering "you're an idiot" looks.

"Of course there are more booby traps!" Jocelyn exclaimed. "This whole maze is a death trap!"

"Oh," Theo said, embarrassed. "Right."

"Hey guys," Matt said, "did anyone else notice that the walls changed?"

I turned, the beam from my flashlight illuminating the wall. Before the spikes, the entire corridor had been made from rough-hewn bricks. Now the walls were made from smooth cement and the floor was dirt. "Weird," I commented. "Emily, any ideas?"

"Well the maze is a magical structure," she said. "I can't be sure, but I'd suspect that the structure reflects whatever it runs beneath."

I nodded. It made sense. "Alright. Well let's keep moving."

Emily turned and led on. We walked quietly for a few moments before Jocelyn spoke up in a poor imitation of Theo's voice, "Gee, I hope we don't run into anything else dangerous. I thought this quest was going to be sunshine and daisies."

I couldn't help but snicker. "Shut up," Theo said, and I could almost hear the blush in his voice. "That doesn't even sound like me."

Over the next hour – or it felt like an hour anyway, but it was hard to tell – we were almost killed by booby traps about fifteen times. Axes swung from the ceiling, poison darts shot at us out of the walls, the ceiling and floor smashed together like a car compactor, and so on, and so on. If you can think of it, there was probably a trap like it. The only reason we were still alive was because of Emily. She'd sense the danger just in time and pull us all to safety. I was glad I'd brought her. We hadn't been in the maze long but she'd proven her worth already. While it was true she couldn't sense the exact layout of the maze, she was not hindered by the maze. At every split path, she knew the exact way to go. I was glad she knew exactly where to go, not only because I wanted to beat Gaius to Pasiphaë but also because I was pretty sure the maze was constantly shifting around us – the constantly changing style of corridor seemed to evidence that.

We went through a passage of cracked and weathered marble, then turned into what looked like a mine shaft. Not long after that, we walked through a hall made of elaborately carved stone, the low ceiling vaulted above us. We passed through a wood-paneled section, sections made of bare stone – we even came across a piece of corridor that looked exactly like a hallway from my high school, lockers and all.

"That locker is a doorway to the surface," Emily said, pointing to a locker numbered thirty-one.

I raised my eyebrows. "You can sense doorways? Do you know where it lets out?"

"Yeah, I can sense doorways," Emily replied. "So can you, if you know what to look for. Do you want me to show you?"

I hesitated a moment. I appreciated the offer, but I didn't think we should be wasting time learning how to spot doors. "Uh… no, it's fine. As long as you know how to spot them, I'm sure it's fine."

Emily shrugged. "Well anyway, no I can't sense exactly where it will let out."

"Probably a school somewhere," Jocelyn commented dryly.

We hadn't run into any signs of life yet; no monsters, no demititans, no mortals who'd wandered down here by accident, no Underworld escapees. But I knew it was only a matter of time.

We were walking down a hallway made entirely from stainless steel when it happened. My foot caught on something stiff and I fell to the floor. I grunted and turned to see what I'd tripped over. When my flashlight beam found it, I had to suppress a girlish scream. My friends had stopped, too, their lights pointed at the same thing, their mouths opened in shock. It was a dead body.

An extremely recent dead body by the looks of it. Like, so recent that he hadn't started to smell. The man was slumped against the wall, blood spattered all around him from deep wound on the side of his neck. I checked to make sure that none had gotten on me, but it had apparently been long enough for the blood to dry.

Shakily, I got to my feet, still looking at the man. He wore a Celestial bronze breastplate and helmet over black military style clothes. A sword lay on his left side. I gulped. "I recognize the uniform. He's a demititan." A wave of panic hit me. If he was a demititan, and so recently dead, then that meant Gaius was close. _Calm down_ , I thought, fruitlessly. _If Gaius really_ is _close, you can't afford a panic attack right now_.

As if reading my mind, Jocelyn said, "I don't think the rest of the demititans are close, necessarily. I'm no genius when it comes to magical mazes, but I get the feeling that distance is pretty meaningless here. Plus, I'm pretty sure the maze keeps changing around us."

Matt bent down next to the corpse and examined the wound. "I wonder what did this to him."

From down the corridor came high-pitched noises - almost like bats, but much louder. "I think we may be about to find out," Theo said nervously.

I whirled around to Emily who was still staring at the body in shock. I had a lot of sympathy for her. I remembered the horror I'd felt when I'd encountered my first body. Granted, I'd been responsible for that person's death, so part of my horror then had come from that. Still, I understood what Emily was feeling. But there wasn't time to let her process it. The high-pitched, bat-like screeches were getting closer. "Emily, can you lead us someplace better to fight? There's not enough space here." Emily did not move. "Emily!" I snapped.

She blinked like she was coming out of a trance. Her face quickly transformed to serious and determined. "Right. This way!"

We sprinted off down the corridor, the makeup of the walls and floor changing to uneven stone, like a cave. The screeching was getting closer. Emily led us around a corner and we burst into a huge circular room made of stone bricks, the ceiling lost far above, like we were in a well meant for giants. From the sound of it, the screeching monsters were almost upon us. I skidded to a halt in the center of the room and turned to face the passage we'd come from, drawing my sword as I whirled around. My friends did the same, drawing their weapons, lights trained on the entryway we'd come through. Then the monsters burst into the room.

They actually were bats, funny enough, though not like any bats I'd ever seen before. These guys were scaled up vampire bats. And by scaled up, I mean they had a ten foot wingspan. The fangs in their oddly shaped mouths glinted. I slashed into the air as the first bats reached us. Two burst apart, but the swarm was huge. They swirled around us like a whirlwind.

My friends and I fought wildly. To my left, Jocelyn was shooting her pistol rapidly with her right hand, lashing out with her whip using her left hand. On my right, Theo was firing four or five arrows into the air at a time. Matt and Emily had ended up behind me somehow. Matt had transformed his gladius into a lance. A nifty trick. The extra reach was serving him well. Emily, meanwhile, had transformed into an elephant.

Oh yeah, Emily had inherited her family gift and could transform into animals. I didn't mention that? Whoops. Yeah, it was the one power I had known Emily had before I'd visited Camp Jupiter.

Anyway, Emily was trumpeting loudly, swinging her trunk around like a club and spearing bats on her tusks.

I continued to slash bats out of the air whenever they swooped in. They weren't hard to take down, nor were they very intelligent. Their advantage was numbers. They swooped around us, trying to dig their fangs into my friends and I, screeching loudly, their wings buffeting us.

I slashed upward, destroying a bat, but another one was right behind. Jocelyn shot it. I whirled around and sliced the wing off another bat that was swooping down on Theo. Theo fired three arrows, killing a group of bats that were descending on Emily's pachadermal hide. Emily wrapped her trunk around a bat that Matt had missed with his lance and squeezed it to dust. Matt swung around, sweeping his lance through the air and puncturing two bat about to get Jocelyn. In short, our teamwork was amazing.

Finally, the horde of bat monsters started to thin out. I slashed what I thought was the last one out of the air. I panted, exhausted, but pleased with myself and my friends. But that feeling evaporated quickly when Emily the elephant let out a much higher blast. It sounded like she was in pain. I whirled around just in time to see Matt kill a bat that had sunk its fangs into Emily's front right leg. With the bat gone, Emily instantly transformed back to human, crying in pain. Her right arm was soaked in blood.

"Shit," I cursed.

Theo jumped into action. His quiver was back in backpack mode. He dug out his first aid supplied. "Eat this," he told Emily, handing her a square of Ambrosia. Emily did as she was told. Meanwhile, Theo had wrapped the spot where all the blood was coming from in gauze, applying pressure to stop the bleeding.

I knelt on Emily's other side and grabbed her hand, a million alarms going off in my head. This was it, Emily was going to die. "Hey, hang in there," I pleaded futilely.

"She's gonna be fine," Theo said calmly to me. He added more gauze. The first layer had already been soaked through with blood. "It's not good, but it'll be okay. I promise." I felt my fear subside. Theo knew what he was talking about when it came to first aid stuff. I let out a deep breath I hadn't realized I was holding.

"This is all my fault," Emily grunted. "If I hadn't gotten so distracted by that body, the bats might not have caught us."

"Yeah, they would've," I said. "They were faster than us. This is in no way your fault. In fact, it's only because of you we found such a good place to fight before they did catch up." I glanced over at Matt and Jocelyn, who still had their weapons drawn, keeping watch.

After a couple minutes, Theo said, "Okay, I think I mostly stopped the bleeding. I'm gonna try to clean out the wound now. This will sting a little."

"Okay," Emily said, bracing herself. Theo cast aside the blood soaked gauze. I flinched slightly when I saw the wound. There were two puncture holes just below Emily's elbow, each about an inch in diameter. Theo washed the area with some Nectar and Emily yelped in pain. Theo waited a moment, letting the godly drink sizzle in the wound, killing any bacteria around the site. Then he dabbed away the excess with more gauze. After that, he pulled out even more gauze, carefully placed it over the puncture marks, then pulled out wrapping cloth and wound it tightly around Emily's lower arm.

Theo breathed out slowly as he tied off the wrap and handed Emily a canteen. "Alright, drink this. It's unicorn draught. Doesn't work as quickly as godly food, but it won't incinerate you, and I don't dare risking any more Nectar and Ambrosia on you." As a legacy, she couldn't consume as much as normal half-bloods could.

"Thank you, Theo," Emily said after taking a swig.

Theo nodded. "Now, you lost a lot of blood. The Ambrosia I gave you will help you regenerate it pretty quickly, but it still might take a little while. I wish I could give you more, but like I said, I don't want to risk it. Until your blood cell count gets back to normal, you'll tire more easily and you're going to feel weak. What you need is rest." He looked up at me. "Frankly, we could all probably use some rest."

I'd been thinking the same thing. "Okay, we'll camp here for the night."

"How about no?" Jocelyn said. She and Matt had drifted closer to join the conversation.

I shot her a questioning look. Matt quickly explained. "This room would be a terrible place to camp for the night. There are too many points of entry. We needed the open space to fight those monsters, but this is not a secure enough place to crash for the night."

"Unless we want to sleep one at a time and have the rest of us on guard duty all night," Jocelyn added.

I frowned. That was smart thinking. Why hadn't I thought of what they just said? I was supposed to be the smart one and the quest leader. I was way too messed up to think clearly. Today had been a lot to handle. I looked at Emily. "Do you feel up to leading us someplace better to crash?"

Emily nodded. "Yeah, I can do that." With effort, she stood up. Her dark skin was tinged with green like she'd be sick. Nonetheless, she turned and pointed down one of the passageways connected to the room. "This way," she said. We went down the corridor she pointed to, looking for a place to crash.

* * *

 **AN: Alright, another chapter done and they're FINALLY in the Labyrinth. Also, just a reminder, you can expect the next update on Wednesday.**


	10. Chapter 10: We Meet Some Dead Romans

**AN: Hey guys! Welcome back! As always, I want to thank all of you for your continued support. I know I sound like a broken record, but I really do mean it. Your support means a whole lot to me!**

 **Before we get into the chapter, I have a review to respond to from Unicute17: "** **THIS IS AWESOME! is hecate on the godly side or the titan side?"  
A: I'm glad you're enjoying it so much! As for Hecate's status... well, she's sort of M.I.A. right now, if you remember. So she's not directly supporting the godly side or the demititans. However, were she able to support a side, it would be the gods.**

 **Alright, that's enough from me right now. At the bottom I will be making a quick announcement, so make sure to read that after you finish the chapter. Enjoy and DFTBA!**

* * *

Chapter 10: We Meet Some Dead Roman Dudes

Luckily, we didn't have to go very far before we found a place to crash. The passage Emily led us down turned into what looked like the interior of a castle. The walls were stone and draped with tapestries depicting scenes I didn't recognize: knights in shining armor, dragons and kings fighting, a woman in a high tower. The floor had a rich red carpet running down the center. On one wall, there was an ident forming an alcove big enough for us to make camp.

Emily sat down hard, looking exhausted. The blood loss was clearly affecting her. Theo knelt next to her and made her drink some water. Matt was digging through his bag, looking for something. Jocelyn leaned against the back wall of the alcove, her phone in her hand. She had a confused look on her face as she looked at the screen. "That's weird," she muttered. "No signal."

"We're underground," I said slowly. "Of course we don't have signal."

"We had signal in the Underworld two years ago," Jocelyn said. I frowned. I'd forgotten about that. And the Underworld was way deeper than the Labyrinth. "And the lack of signal isn't the weirdest part," Jocelyn went on. "The really weird thing is this." She passed me the phone. At first, I didn't realize what she was talking about, then…

"There're just dashes where the time should be," I muttered.

"Exactly," Jocelyn said. "Even without a signal, the phone should still be measuring the time based off of the last cell tower it was connected to."

I checked my own phone and found the same thing. From her spot on the floor, Emily spoke up. "Time moves differently here. The electronics don't know how to handle that, so no signal and no time readout. I'd imagine some of the other features will behave pretty wonky. Try accessing your calendars."

I did. As soon as I tapped on the icon, the screen flashed and the phone restarted. I held up my phone for Jocelyn to see. "You get the same thing?"

"Yep," she replied.

I turned back to Emily. "How do you know about the time thing?"

Emily shrugged. "I don't really know. I can just tell. Sort of like how I'm not sure how I'm able to detect Pasiphaë's location, I just can."

"Aha!" Matt exclaimed. "Here we go! I was afraid I'd forgotten to pack this." Out of his backpack, he pulled a cylindrical silver… thing. He expanded it, revealing it to be an electric lamp. He set it on the floor and turned off his own flashlight. The rest of us followed suit, switching off our lights, allowing the lamp's light to take over the space. The lamp's light glowed a warm yellow rather than the harsh white light of our flashlights. We all gathered around the lamp like it was a campfire.

I rummaged through my own bag and started passing out protein bars. "Ah man, you sure do cook a mean dinner, Lizzie," Jocelyn teased.

I rolled my eyes, but didn't rise to the bait. The protein bar tasted like cardboard, but at least it was food. "So how about this Labyrinth, huh?" Theo said.

"Yeah, I'm glad we paid top dollar for this vacation package," I said sarcastically.

"Room service isn't very good, though," Jocelyn pointed out. "And honestly, the menu options aren't too great here. I thought this hotel was supposed to have five stars for food service?"

"Maybe the Yelp reviews were wrong," Matt suggested. "We should put up new ones when we leave."

Emily chuckled. "You know, I don't think too much of the locals, either," she added, holding up her bandaged arm. I snorted.

We went on like that for a little while until the joke had run its course. We sat in silence for a few moments before Matt asked, "What were those things, anyway? Those monsters?"

"Giant bats," Jocelyn suggested helpfully.

Matt rolled his eyes. "Oh ha. You know what I mean. I've never read or heard anything about giant bat monsters before. I mean, they weren't even in those crazy fantasy books I used to read when I was younger."

No one had an answer to that. "I don't know, Matt," I finally said. "Maybe those bat monsters are unique to the Labyrinth? Or maybe none of the famous heroes ever fought them? It's hard to say." Matt made a thoughtful noise, staring right into the lamp. "You'll go blind doing that," I said.

Matt didn't respond, which seemed odd. What was up with him?

Emily yawned widely. Theo turned to her. "You should go ahead and get to sleep. In the morning, we can try more Ambrosia." That seemed to be the cue for everyone to get ready for bed. Emily started laying out her bedroll. Theo did the same. Jocelyn gave me a questioning look, and I knew she was wondering about watch.

"I'll take first watch," I volunteered. Matt slid the lamp over to me as he unpacked his own bedroll. I took it and nodded my thanks. Then I scooched over to the alcove's entrance. The darkness of the corridor seemed absolute. The light of our lamp seemed feeble by comparison. It made me feel kind insignificant. The Labyrinth was huge. We were just five heroes. Teenagers. What chance did we have against a colossal force like the maze?

I listened as my friends drifted off behind me, the rhythm of their breathing calming me somewhat. Which was good, because a slight breeze seemed to move through the corridor like the Labyrinth was breathing, too. Even if I was imagining it (and let's be real, I was), it gave me chills. I zipped up my leather jacket and crossed my arms tightly.

Today had been insane. Even though we hadn't run into any monsters until the very end of the day, the Labyrinth hadn't needed monsters to bring us to the brink of death. Multiple times. The booby traps were crazy. And assuming Nico was right about Gaius's larger force distracting Pasiphaë, then I couldn't even imagine how much worse the maze would be if Pasiphaë was focusing all of her attention on me and my friends.

And as for Gaius…

Bungie cords wrapped themselves around my chest. I gritted my teeth. "Not now," I muttered quietly. In my head, I heard Gaius's voice say, _"That's your problem Elizabeth. You don't play dirty."_ I reached into my bag and pulled out my medicine. I was about to pop open the cap when I hesitated. Had it been twenty-four hours since I last took the meds? But then again, Emily had just said that time worked differently here. It could've been days on the surface already. Or maybe only a few minutes.

Still, I wondered whether it was worth risking it. I wasn't having a full panic attack – not yet, at least. And even if I did, I was the only one awake. Panic attacks were usually pretty quiet. My friends wouldn't know – or at least Matt and Emily wouldn't find out. Since Theo and Jocelyn already knew…. And besides all that, I really didn't want to get addicted to my meds and become even weaker than I already was.

Remembering my weakness gave me another stab of panic, and new scenarios came into my head. Who was to say that monsters wouldn't stumble on us while I was having a panic attack? If that happened, then my friends and I were toast. What if not taking my meds doomed me and my friends to being some monster's midnight snack? Or worse, what if Gaius's troops found us? What if they took us back to him?

The scenario played itself out in my mind as I started to shake uncontrollably. _"I want to keep_ you _alive, Elizabeth,"_ Gaius's voice said. _"You and I have a fated battle someday, and I wouldn't want you to die before then. But I don't need your friends to live. They don't matter to me. So you get to watch as I kill them! And you must know that it is all your fault – you were too weak to save them."_

Lines from my prophecy burned themselves into my head. _No matter how hard the heroes try, at the end a friend will die. Ultimately the quest will fail: the son of Kronos shall destroy the veil._

I was in a full-on panic attack now. While I'd been debating about taking my meds, I'd completely lost control of my emotions. My hesitation over taking my meds disappeared. I needed this panic attack to end. I popped open the cap and crammed two of the pills in my mouth. I swallowed hard. Now, all that was left was for the meds to take effect and for the panic attack to run its course. For the sake of our safety, I hopped it passed quickly. So I sat there on the floor, shaking like crazy and struggling to draw breath. The panic ebbed away agonizingly slowly.

I hated feeling this way. I hated Gaius for doing this to me. He'd not just broken my body, but my mind, too. And while my robot arm had been a relatively easy fix to the first problem, there was no easy solution for overcoming my anxiety problems. But the specter of Gaius in my mind had been right, too. This was also my fault. If I wasn't so weak, I'd be able to control my emotions. Then it would only be my body that was broken. Even as the panic attack died down, I kept running circles in my head, alternately angry, self-pitying, and self-loathing.

I growled in frustration. I needed to get my mind off of Gaius, off of my prophecy, and off of my weaknesses. I pulled out my phone. I had no signal, but my e-book app was working fine. I decided to keep working on my Ancient Greek. I opened _Oedipus the King_ by Sophocles and tried working my way through it. Ancient Greek had never come naturally to me, but I'd gotten a lot better at it. At least when it came to reading it. But I just couldn't focus. My eyes glided across the screen blankly while my mind continued to dwell on the very things I wanted to avoid thinking about.

It was hard to say how long it had been when I heard the sound of shuffling behind me, like someone was waking up. I turned and saw Matt sitting up, a look of distress on his face and his breath coming in pants. "Are you okay?" I asked quietly.

"Yeah," he said. "Bad dream."

Bad dream? Matt hardly ever dreamt. Or at least, he hardly ever had prophetic dreams. "What was it about?" I asked. "Did it have anything to do with our quest?"

"I'm… not sure," Matt said. "I was… I don't know. I was in someplace I'd never seen before. And Mom and Dad were there… they didn't look so good."

I frowned. "Well… I'm sure they're fine. It was just a normal dream, probably." But was it? I'd had hints of something bad happening to our parents, too. Granted, that had been two years ago, but even so... Was it just a coincidence? I wanted to believe that, but I didn't believe in coincidences.

"It probably was just a dream," Matt said. "I was wearing the badge of Praetor in my dream. Tony's nowhere close to retirement, and neither is Sierra. So it was just a nightmare, I'm sure." That made me feel slightly better. Even if there was some element of truth to his dream and the hints I'd received, surely it wouldn't happen for a long time yet. After all, Matt was right. With Tony and Sierra as Praetors, there was no chance that he would be made Praetor anytime soon.

"Well you should try and go back to sleep, then," I suggested. "I'm fine to stay on watch a while longer." Matt responded to that by scooting over next to me.

"I don't feel like going back to sleep, to be completely honest," he said. "Even though I know it was only a dream, it was still pretty intense." We both fell silent at that. Matt stared into the yellow light of the lamp again, just like he had earlier. I examined my brother more closely than I had yet. There was something different about him now. It wasn't obvious. His personality hadn't obviously changed. Neither had his looks. But there were subtle differences about the way he carried himself. When he was younger, he'd always slouched when sitting. Now he sat ramrod straight. His sea green eyes, which had constantly held a humorous gleam before, now held an undercurrent of steely cunning, like he was running battle calculations. I'd always known Matt was smart, but this was different. This was the look I saw in Elesa's eyes. Or in Mom's sometimes. Or even in my own when I looked in the mirror.

And while he still joked, I sensed a more determined purpose underneath it. A seriousness I had not associated with my brother before. I mean, sure, he'd always been capable of being serious, but now it seemed like a constant. Even when he was joking, I'd noticed the seriousness under the surface, even if I hadn't registered it before.

"What's happened with you, Matt?" I asked. "You're seem so much more serious now. More determined."

Matt didn't answer right away. He took time thinking about how to respond. Finally, he said lamely, "I've been thinking about a lot of stuff recently. Don't worry about it."

I raised my eyebrows. "Now that's just not in my nature as your older sister. What have you been thinking about?"

Matt sighed. "A lot of things. One of the biggest things is that fight with Medusa I had a while ago. I keep thinking… well, maybe if I'd done something differently Donald might still be alive…"

It took me a second to remember that Donald had been one of Matt's Centurions until he died during the Medusa fight. "Were you close with him?" I asked tentatively.

"I don't know if close is the right word," Matt said. "But he'd certainly taken an interest in me. He seemed to think that I had a lot of potential. He was counting on me to help him against Medusa. And I… I failed him. And now I'm Centurion. And I just know that I'm going to fail at this, too."

"That's nonsense, Matt," I said. "You can't second guess everything you ever did, and you can't play the what if game like that, because then it will never stop. You and Amy and Donald all did the best you could against Medusa. Unfortunately, Donald died. Nothing will change that. But you can change the way you think about it. You didn't fail. And you won't fail as Centurion either. You're gonna be great. I know it. Plus you've got an awesome co-Centurion to help you."

Matt sighed. "Yeah, maybe. But… ah, never mind."

"What?"

"It's gonna sound really stupid after talking about something so heavy," Matt said. "Like… next to Donald dying, this other thing really isn't that important."

"Well clearly it's on your mind," I said. "Just tell me."

"Well having Amy as my co-Centurion is a problem too," he said. "She and I will be working really closely together. And she's great. But she's… Well, I'm just worried that I won't be able to keep how I feel to myself. Then the same thing that happened with Sierra will happen with us. And I don't want to lose another friend."

"You know, I'm pretty sure that you're the one making things weird between you and Sierra," I said. "She'd be your friend again. In fact, I'm sure she'd love nothing more than being friends with you again."

"But that's difficult."

"Why is that so difficult?" I asked, perplexed.

"Because I'm still not completely over her," Matt replied morosely.

"It's been a year since you told her," I pointed out.

"Yeah, and I liked her since I was a toddler," Matt said.

"So because you got your heart broken once you're too afraid to try anything with Amy?" I asked. "Just because it didn't work out with Sierra doesn't mean the same thing will happen with Amy."

"But she's my best friend. Wouldn't you be scared to tell your best friend something like that? Like, what if you had a crush on Jocelyn? Wouldn't you be afraid to tell her?"

I tilted my head slightly. "I guess, but it would be kinda weird for me to have a crush on her." Matt shot me a shrewd look that I didn't entirely understand. Nevertheless, I tried to entertain what Matt had said. What if I did have a crush on Jocelyn? How would I handle it? Finally, I said, "I suppose I'd be pretty terrified, too."

"Exactly," Matt said. "And it's only going to get harder to hide how I feel from Amy."

I sighed. I didn't really know what to tell him, because he was right. It was a tricky situation. Especially since he was still hurting from Sierra's rejection. Which no doubt confused the way he felt about Amy. Except I was almost certain that Amy liked Matt back. I was about to say as much when Matt said, "Sorry to make this all about my love life," he said. "Or lack thereof." I chuckled slightly at that. "I must sound really lame whining about the girl I like, huh? I mean, we're on a dangerous quest in the middle of a war and here I am moaning about a girl."

I shrugged. "I don't think it's lame. And besides, emotions run high when things are dangerous. Not just negative emotions, but positive ones, too."

Matt raised an eyebrow. "You sound like a philosopher."

I snorted. "Yeah, a regular Socrates over here."

We fell silent again. Then, Matt asked, "What about you?"

I looked at him. "What do you mean?" Though I had a sneaking suspicion what he meant.

"Well if it's not lame for me to talk about my love life, then it's certainly not lame for you to do the same thing," he said. "So how about it? How are things with Augustus?"

I frowned. People seemed annoyingly persistent with asking that question. And I wasn't sure I wanted to talk about my relationship with my little brother. But he had opened up to me. Wasn't it only fair that I do the same? Besides which, if I didn't, Matt would know that something was up with Gus and I anyway. So was there really any point to avoiding the question?

"Things are complicated," I said after a moment. "I don't know. Some days it seems like things are going fine, but other days not so much. We've been arguing a lot recently. More than usual, I mean."

"What have you guys been arguing about?"

"He's being super overprotective," I said. "It's like… ever since I lost my arm he acts like I can't handle myself. Like I need protection. I don't need his or anyone else's protection. I can protect myself."

Matt didn't answer right away. He just studied my face. "Are you sure that's what he thinks, Elizabeth? That you can't protect yourself? Or are you projecting your own insecurities onto his actions?"

" _What?!_ "

Matt raised his hands in surrender. "It's just a suggestion. But I don't think Gus is the type to underestimate you. If anything, he probably overestimates you because you're his girlfriend."

"You're not the one dealing with him."

"No, I'm not," Matt agreed. "Which gives me some clarity, big sis. I've got a more objective viewpoint on this. This is worth thinking about. Before the battle on the highway, I never knew you to be insecure. But since then, every time I've seen you, you've been filled with insecurity."

"What? All three times that you've seen me that last year?" I said scathingly. "I haven't seen you since Christmas. You hardly ever call or text. You hardly know me anymore, Matt." It had come out a bit harsher than I'd meant it to, and I could tell that Matt had been really hurt by my words. But I didn't feel guilty just yet. The sudden surge in anger was still going strong. I wasn't even sure why I was so angry. Maybe it was because I missed my brother a lot and I still felt somewhat betrayed by his decision last year to go to Camp Jupiter. Or maybe it was because a part of me recognized the truth in what he was saying and just didn't want to accept it.

"Elizabeth –"

"Well if you're gonna be awake for a while longer, I guess I should get some sleep," I said abruptly. Without waiting for an answer, I scooted away from him, pulled out my bedroll, and lay down, turning away from Matt. I heard him sigh in frustration, but he didn't say anything else.

It took me a long time to fall asleep, as emotional as I was, but when I finally did, I didn't sleep soundly.

* * *

As always, my dream started back on the highway, right before Gaius chopped my arm off. Then it changed. I was no longer on the highway, but in an underground chamber. Most likely somewhere in the Labyrinth. The room was large with seven corridors branching out from it. The floor was done in a massive mosaic of the Olympians. In the center of the room was a stone table like the ones that priests would sacrifice animals to in the ancient times. The room buzzed with activity. Around each entrance were a couple of people standing guard. Several others stood farther in the room, sitting around lamps and talking to each other, sharpening weapons or polishing armor. I counted twenty of them. Most of them looked like they were in their twenties, though there were a few teens mixed in. Their clothes and armor indicated that they were demititans.

In the center of the room, around the central table, five figures were gathered. I recognized all of them, though I'd only met one of them in person. Two of the figures looked identical. They were pretty, in a ghostly way. Their skin was white as snow, their hair so blonde it was white. Their eyes were a reddish, pinkish color. They had to be albino, there was no question about it. They wore the same clothes – simple black dresses with black leggings (no doubt to contrast with the extreme white of their skin and hair). They wore thin belts around their waists from which each had an ornamental dagger hanging. These two weren't really fighters – at least not in the usual sense. I didn't know their individual names, though I'd heard them referred to as the "twins" before.

The next person was a massive man. Like, he was easily seven feet tall massive. His skin was the same shade as coffee that someone had gone overboard on putting creamer in. He was completely bald, though he couldn't have been more than twenty-seven or twenty-eight. He wore custom armor (no doubt because the standard armor was too small for him) made of Imperial gold. On his back, he'd strapped a huge axe, a blade on either side of the shaft. This man's name was Drake.

The fourth person at the table was Eliana, who looked more composed than when I'd last dreamt about her. Her auburn hair was in a ponytail. She, too, wore armor. Hers was custom, too. I could tell because of the sun design in the center of the breastplate. Her hand rested on the pommel of her sword.

The last person at the table was also the one who terrified me most, even though Eliana was the one who wanted to come find and kill me. The fifth guy looked pretty normal, if you ignored the fact that his eyes were golden. His sandy blond hair was slightly messy. He wore a white button-down shirt and khaki pants. Like Eliana, he had a sword, and I knew from experience that he knew how to use it. If you hadn't already guessed, it was Gaius.

It was a good thing I was there in a dream because if I'd actually been confronted with Gaius without warning I would've immediately had a panic attack, meds or no. As it was, my dream self was shaking violently. Still, I moved closer to the five of them, hoping to overhear their conversation. After all, almost everyone in Gaius's inner circle was there. Only Marcus and Marina were missing. Marina wasn't there because she was dead, so she could hardly go to meetings with her boss anymore. I wondered vaguely if her position in the inner circle had been filled by someone else. The other missing person was, of course, Marcus, who must've been left behind to oversee their surface operations.

"– continue to resist us," Drake was saying.

Eliana snarled. "I don't understand. Why won't she call off her monsters? Does the idiot sorceress not realize we've come to help her?"

"Most likely no," Gaius said calmly. "To her we're just more demigods that have wandered into her maze. Albeit a large group of demigods."

"But we're not demigods," Eliana protested. "We're demi _titans_."

"In reality there's very little difference," Gaius said, shrugging. "It's all semantics, really. After all, Hecate's technically a Titan, but everyone calls her a god and her children have a place at Camp Half-Blood." Eliana made to speak again, but Gaius cut her off. "It doesn't matter. We'll make it to her. The twins will guide us. Won't you?"

"Yes," the twins answered in unison. "Though she will continue to resist our movement greatly. It will take time."

Drake grunted. "Can't you two use your magic powers to bend the maze to your will?"

"We _are_ ," the twins insisted. "But Pasiphaë is doing the same thing. And she's doing it to the whole maze, rather than just on us. There's no way she should be able to have that sort of control without something enhancing her powers over the maze. At any rate, it is very difficult to work the maze against her will, especially with a force this size."

"I have faith in your powers," Gaius said. He turned to Drake. "We just need to be patient. Now, if there isn't anything else –"

"There is one more thing, Gaius," the twins said. "Elizabeth Jackson has entered the Labyrinth."

For the first time ever, I saw a look of surprise on Gaius's face. For once, I'd done something he hadn't expected. It was a satisfying feeling. Eliana, however, knew already that I'd be entering the maze. She was watching Gaius, trying to figure out how he would respond. And, no doubt, hoping that she'd get her chance to track me down and kill me. "What is she doing down here?" Gaius asked.

"You know we can't tell you that, sir," the twins answered. "But she has not entered alone. She is accompanied by four others. Furthermore, the comparatively small size of her group will allow her to pass through the Labyrinth more easily."

"She must've found out about our mission here. She's probably hoping to beat us to Pasiphaë." Gaius looked like his thoughts were spinning around like Sonic the Hedgehog. Then his eyes lit up like he'd finished putting a puzzle together. "We'll split the group in half. Half of us will go find Pasiphaë and the other half will find Elizabeth and her team."

"I can lead the group to hunt down Elizabeth, sir," Eliana said quickly.

"No, Eliana, I need you by my side," Gaius said.

"But, Gaius –"

"I've made my decision, Eliana," Gaius said sternly. "No, Drake will lead the half going to track down Elizabeth. Do not harm her, Drake. Do you understand? Do not harm Elizabeth Jackson. When you find her, capture her and bring her back to me."

"Yes, sir," Drake said.

"Gaius," Eliana protested, her chance to hunt me down and kill me quickly fading, "please let me go after Elizabeth. You know that Drake will butcher this job, just like he butchers every job." Drake fixed Eliana with a death glare. If a man that size had glared at me like that, I would've been pretty scared. But Eliana hardly seemed to notice.

"No," Gaius repeated. "I told you, I need you by my side. Drake can handle Elizabeth and her friends."

"What about us?" the twins asked.

"Andromeda," Gaius said to the twin on the left, "you will go with Drake. Guide him towards Elizabeth and her friends. Caesaria, you will stay with Eliana and I. You will continue to lead us to Pasiphaë."

The twins didn't seem too fond of splitting up, but they didn't argue. They simply nodded. "Very well," Gaius said. "Drake, you leave in one hour."

"As you command, sir," he said.

Eliana opened her mouth again to argue, but Gaius stopped her before she could. "Not another word. Meeting adjourned."

* * *

My eyes shot open. I sat bolt upright. Jocelyn was the one on guard duty now. She looked over at me curiously. "What's up?"

"One of Gaius's guys is coming to find us," I said. "We need to get moving."

Jocelyn didn't question it. She gathered together her stuff, then helped me wake everyone up. I explained my dream quickly. Emily in particular seemed distressed that Gaius's magic users could track us, but she couldn't track them. Still, when I mentioned what they'd said about something amplifying Pasiphaë's powers, Emily said, "I was thinking the same thing." It was interesting, but I was thinking about too many other things to give that idea much thought.

Instead, I pulled everyone to their feet and said, "Come on, let's get moving now!"

Emily obliged. She led the way down the corridor at a jog. We followed her. Of course, I should have noticed the lack of traps, but I didn't. I was just so focused on trying to outrun Drake and his team. Then, suddenly, Emily skidded to a stop before a corner. "Guys, I can sense a large group of people up ahead."

I felt my throat tighten up. "Is it –"

"No, these are dead people," Emily said. "I'm sensing a massive group of Underworld escapees and spirits of the dead."

My friends and I glanced at each other. We knew this was a very real possibility. Lots of Underworld escapees had fled to the Labyrinth. But I wasn't sure what to do. On the one hand, I wanted to get moving as quickly as possible so that we could keep Drake from catching up with us. Frankly, I would've rather Eliana been the one to try to track us down. She wanted to kill me, true. But fighting her to the death was a better alternative than being dragged before Gaius. At least I had some agency if I fought her.

On the other hand, running into a group of Underworld escapees "guns blazing" was perhaps not the safest way to proceed. Maybe we could negotiate our way past them.

Then again, if it was possible to skip them altogether, that was the best option.

"Can we go around them?" I asked.

"Not without going a long way around," Emily replied.

I swore. Everyone was looking at me (though Matt wouldn't quite meet my eyes, no doubt because of our argument last night), waiting to see how I wanted to proceed. Finally, I said, "Let's see if we can talk our way past them."

Emily nodded and led the way around the corner. Up ahead, I could see faint light. We approached warily, and from the way the light flickered, I could tell it was from a pair of torches. When we got close, I could see a pair of large wooden doors. In front of the doors were two figures in Roman armor. Their skin was grey. The armor looked rusty in places. When they saw us, they lowered the _pilum_ they were holding and barked something in what I assumed was Latin.

I reached for my sword, but Matt was the first to respond. He held up his hands and said, " _Senatus Populesque Romanus!_ "

The guards seemed to soften slightly, but they kept their spears pointed at us. " _Romani_?" one of them asked Matt. Matt replied in what I assumed was the affirmative, then asked the guards something.

"What are they saying?" I asked Jocelyn, who was standing closest to me. My friend had a gift of tongues. Learning languages came easily to her, and I was pretty sure that she'd learned Latin last year.

"Matt's asking them if they speak English," she said quietly. "He says that Latin is not his strongest language – which is true by the way, because he screwed up a couple of conjugations just now – and that most of his friends – that's us – don't speak it at all."

"So do they speak English?" I asked.

"Yes, we do," one of the Roman guards said. He looked between me and Matt, then between Theo and Jocelyn and Emily. "Graecus scum associating with legionnaires," he said distastefully. "One of them a Centurion, no less."

"Caecilius," the other guard said warningly.

"I know," Caecilius replied grumpily. "We're under orders."

"Orders?" I asked. "What orders? From who?"

Caecilius sneered. "Our Emperor told us that if any legionnaires arrived in his domain, he wanted to meet them and any companions they might have."

"What if we don't want to meet with your Emperor?" Jocelyn asked.

"We have orders to destroy you," the other guard said.

"You realize you're outnumbered, here, right?" I pointed out.

"There are dozens more of us beyond these doors," Caecilius said. "If you attack us, you won't pass through here without getting destroyed yourselves."

"Guys, it's okay," Matt said. "Let's just go meet their Emperor. What's the worst that could happen?" I almost smacked my forehead. Saying that is asking for trouble.

"Good decision, Centurion," Caecilius said. Then he addressed all of us, "Now you all had best behave yourselves. Emperor Nero cannot stand disrespect."

* * *

 **AN: Exciting! Alright guys, so my quick announcement. Next week, I will not be able to upload a chapter on Wednesday. I will sill upload one on Sunday, but you won't get one on Wednesday (3/16) night. This is because I am going on vacation and will not have access to my computer. So, sorry abou that. But I'll be back in time to post a chapter on the following Sunday. So yeah. Just wanted to give you guys a heads up about that. Enjoy the rest of your week!**


	11. Chapter 11: Matt Makes a Deal

**AN: Hello guys! Welcome back! I know I'm posting this pretty late at night (well, later than usual anyway), and sorry about that. But here is the next chapter. I have really appreciated all of your support so far! First thing's first, let's do some review responses!**

 **First from EllaAnnieGrace: "** **Why do I get the feeling that either Tony or Serria will die...?"  
A: Well now, answering that would be spoilers ;)**

 **Along similar lines, from N: "WAIT JUST A SECOND WAS THAT ‟retireing‟ stuff FORESHADOWING SOMETHING? BECAUSE IF SO AND IF WHAT I THINK WILL HAPPEN IS GOING TO HAPPEN THEN NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO DONT DO IT BFALT"  
A: Once again, spoilers ;)**

 **From the-only-soldier-left: "Aw, crap! Nero?! what the heck is he doing here?!"  
A: You are about to find out**

 **Next, from Liz: "Nice. But can u upload it on you know like Monday instead of Wednesday"  
A: I did consider trying to get an extra chapter up before I left on vacation, but unfortunately, even though I've got rough drafts quite a bit ahead, there's a lot of work between those rough drafts and me posting a chapter. Trust me, the drafts are _really_ rough, and I wouldn't want to rush out an extra chapter for it to be bad. So I'm sorry about that.**

 **SkylightRivers36 asked: "Will Leo and Calypso make an appearance in this or the coming books ?"  
A: Yes, Leo and Calypso will be appearing in this series.**

 **From cghe: "I'm not sure if you realize, but 52,000 words is basically a novel, and this book is only half done. Wow! I'm not sure why or how you have so much time on your hands, but you are very good."  
A: I'm not sure how I have enough time to keep up with this, either, lol. But thank you for the compliment.**

 **Also from cghe: "Do you plan on doing more 'side stories'? I liked the 'True King's Sword' Story, are you planning on any others?"  
A: I certainly have ideas for a couple more of those. Right now, of course, Elizabeth Jackson is my main priority, but depending on whether I can plan out one of my side story ideas more thoroughly before I start book 4, I might do another one during my break between books.**

 **From LightRay354: "Is there gonna be a sequel to the Elizabeth Jackson books ?"  
A: Maybe? Honestly, I'm not sure. If I do a sequel series, it would have to tell a story that I would be invested in telling. I have some ideas for how a potential sequel series might go down, but I'm not sure if I'm particularly invested in any of those ideas. At least not right now. I want to get through this series first, haha.**

 **And finally from SkylightRiver678: "This is just so AWESOME ! I love your twists ..."  
A: Thanks! I really like writing in twists.**

 **Alright, that's it. A lot of reviews to respond to this time. I really enjoy doing review responses, so keep the reviews coming! But anyway, you guys are here for more of Elizabeth's story, so here you go. Enjoy and DFTBA!**

* * *

Chapter 11: Matt Makes a Deal with an Asshole

The Roman zombies led us through the wooden doors into a large room. The ceiling was about twenty feet above us. In front of us was the real spectacle, though. The large room had been fashioned into a coliseum. We were right at the top ring of seats. Below us was a crowd of hundreds. Not all of them were zombies like our two guards. Many of them were spirits glowing a sickly lime green. A few of them were living, like me and my friends. But there were several other Underworld escapees like our guards. And, as our "friend" Caecilius promised, there were tons of other guards, too. Especially here, along the top row, where there a battalion of archers stood at the ready. In the stands directly across from us there was a box-seating area covered by canvas, no doubt where the Emperor was. The disturbing part was the center of the coliseum, where there was a lowered pit in which a boy who couldn't've been more than fifteen, my age, was fighting a gigantic lion. The boy wore oversized armor and he held his sword almost limply. He clearly didn't have any combat training. I ground my teeth.

Caecilius and our other guard started leading as around the stands towards the box seating. Even though it angered and sickened me to watch, I couldn't help but continue to watch the boy in the arena. He was still alive, not one of the Underworld escapees. Some poor kid who must've accidentally wandered into the Labyrinth, been captured by these Roman zombies and been forced to fight for their amusement. He was running around, bloodied and clearly desperate. He dove away from the lion, which always earned laughs from the audience. I ground my teeth even more. My hand grasped the hilt of my sword almost unconsciously. Theo, who was right behind me, whispered, "Easy, Elizabeth."

"So, Centurion," Caecilius asked Matt, who was at the front of the group, "how do you like our coliseum?"

"It's something else," he muttered.

"You said the Emperor was Nero?" I asked. I got a "Quiet, Graecus scum," in reply.

I tried to remember my Roman history, but it'd been more than a year ago that we'd done it in school, and even then we hadn't gone super in depth about any one Emperor. At Camp Half-Blood, Roman history was not part of the normal curriculum. I figured Matt or Emily would know, but Emily was at the very back of the group and Caecilius was paying Matt too much attention for me to ask him. If Matt would even talk to me.

Still, I knew that Nero had been one of the bad Emperors. He'd ruled the Roman Empire at some point, obviously, but I didn't know if it had been earlier or later in the Empire's life. Whatever the case, I at least knew that he had not been remembered fondly.

We were about halfway around the stadium now. Down below, the boy kept trying to escape the lion. Things weren't going well for him. The boy knew it, and he knew he was dead meat. Finally, he dropped his sword and sprinted towards the Emperor's box. At the base of the fighting pit's twenty foot wall, he dropped to his knees. "Please!" he begged. "Please, your grace. Spare me!" The crowd booed in response. One of the sickly green ghosts near me yelled, "Coward!" I couldn't see Nero in the shade of his box, but whatever he did, the boy didn't like it. He slumped his head, his body shaking with sobs. Then the lion was on top of him, ripping him to shreds. The audience let out a scream of approval. The kid screamed in pain. It was one of the most horrific sounds I'd ever heard. I felt like puking.

Unfortunately, I didn't think that this was the sort of thing that made Nero a bad Emperor. Death games in the coliseum were popular throughout the history of Rome. So if sending some poor guy into the pit to fight a lion wasn't what made Nero bad, what _did_ make him bad?

Down in the arena, the lion was still chowing down on the boy, whose screams had stopped. As we continued to circle towards the Emperor's box, getting slightly closer to the lion, I examined the beast better. It was larger than a lion normally would've been, and its coat glinted strangely, almost like it was made of metal. I frowned. _No way_ , I thought. _Is that really…?_

We'd arrived on the same side of the coliseum as the Emperor's box, several rows behind it. The backside of the box was also covered in canvas. More Roman zombies stood guard around the outside of the box, alert. Caecilius stopped and said, "You five will wait here. I will go inform the Emperor of your presence. I will come and get you when he'd ready. No funny business." I glanced back up at the veritable army of archers along the top row.

Over the top of the Emperor's box, I could see a dozen guards coming out onto the field and herding the lion towards a metal gate in the pit's wall, no doubt its cage. The spears sparked with electricity. The guards poked the lion with their spears. The points didn't do any damage, but the electrical energy seemed to hurt it. Slowly but surely, the guards got it back in its cage.

When the lion was off the field and the cheering of the crowd died down, Nero apparently decided to address his subjects. I couldn't see him, but his voice was loud and clear. The guy obviously knew how to project. "My friends," he said in a melodious tenor (for a bad guy, he had a surprisingly pleasant voice), "what a fight we just witnessed!" The audience cheered again. I felt another wave of nausea. "The Nemean Lion, of course, won against the poor mortal boy." I _was_ right. It wasn't an ordinary lion. Somehow, Nero had captured the legendary Nemean Lion. Something else had caught my attention, too. Nero had said mortal. Now, he might've just meant that the kid was alive, but I was pretty sure he meant the kid was one hundred percent mortal – as in no godly ancestry. I was going to gut Nero the first chance I got.

"Now, dear friends," Nero continued, "before we continue with the games, I have written another song to share with you all." The audience murmured excitedly in anticipation. Nero waited until the crowd had fallen silent, then he struck a chord on a familiar sounding instrument. "That's ukulele," I whispered incredulously.

"I didn't know the Ancient Romans had ukuleles," Theo said. I glanced over at him, unsure if he was joking. Jocelyn, clearly, didn't think he was.

"Gods, you're a moron," she muttered.

Nero's singing (which was quite good, musically speaking) provided the perfect cover to ask Emily and Matt about him. I repositioned myself so I was next to Matt and beckoned Emily over. She glanced at our remaining guard, who was barely paying attention to us, then moved so that she was next to me and Matt. The archers above us followed her progress carefully, though, but they didn't draw their bows, so that was good. Emily still looked green around the gills from watching the lion kill that boy, but she was handling it better than I'd expected, considering how she'd reacted to the body yesterday. It was probably because she was angry, just like me.

"Tell me about Nero," I whispered to Matt and Emily. "I mean, I know he was a Roman Emperor, and I know he was bad, but I don't really know anything else about him."

Matt answered first, which was a relief. At the very least, he wasn't going to be giving me the cold shoulder for what I'd said to him. "Nero was the last Emperor related to Julius Caesar," he said. "And you're right, he was bad."

"For starters," Emily put in, "he murdered his own mother and step-brother, just because he suspected they were a threat to his power. That's a whole separate story. But he did kill dozens of political opponents, even if there wasn't a shred of evidence for their disloyalty."

"He loved to party," Matt added. "Nearly bankrupted the treasury hosting games and festivals and triumphs. And at the private parties he held on his estate, he'd burn people alive for torchlight. Most accounts say it was Christians that he burned, though some people think he burned people who worshiped the Egyptian goddess, Isis. Either way, though, he liked burning people alive."

"It's also rumored that he started a huge fire in Rome," Emily said. "Like, one that burned down most of the city. Just so he could make room to build himself a bigger palace. Whether that's true or not, it was certainly the sort of thing he would have done."

"Did he have _any_ redeeming qualities?" I asked.

"He was popular with the commoners," Matt said. "He did a lot to help them out. But it wasn't for the right reasons. He didn't do it because helping out the poor and the commoners was the right or noble thing to do. He did it for the attention. He craved love and attention. It's part of the reason he held so many games. It's also why he liked performing his music in public."

"He sounds like a real pleasant guy," I said sarcastically. "So glad we're getting to meet him."

Nero finished his song on a high note. The audience leaped into a standing ovation. The guards even cheered, except for the archers who stayed serious and vigilant. Nothing broke their concentration.

"Thank you, my friends," Nero said, a self-satisfied note to his voice. "Next up, we have a fight between a pack of Telkhines and a horde of Dracaenae! Enjoy the fight!" The crowd cheered as two of the metal gates in the pit opened. Out of one dog-seal-humanoids emerged, pushed out by Roman zombie guards. I'd only ever seen Telkhines in dreams before, but they were even weirder looking in real life. The Dracaenae were pushed out of their gate by Roman guards as well. I had plenty of experience fighting them. My old gym teacher, for instance.

Caecilius came out of the Emperor's box and approached us. "The Emperor will see you now," he said. "You will be on your best behavior. And you Graecus scum will remain _silent_. Understood?"

I wanted to snap at him, but Matt cut me off. "Understood, Caecilius." The zombie nodded, then led us towards the box. I was fuming. I was the quest leader! I should've been the one to do the talking. _Stupid old fashioned Romans,_ I thought bitterly.

Caecilius led us into the Emperor's box. There were a few more guards stationed inside. The box was larger than I'd realized. The room was decorated with fancy rugs and animal pelts. Several instruments rested on stands throughout the canvas room, including a lyre, a violin, a guitar, a trumpet, a saxophone, a flute, and, yes, a ukulele. Nero sat in a throne towards the front of the box, his back to us, watching the game. I couldn't see his front, but I didn't think much of his back.

He was average height and shaped like a pear. The legs sticking out of the bottom of his body were spindly. I didn't know how they could possibly support his weight. Atop his head he had lank blond hair, a withered laurel wreath resting there. Nero was flanked by two beautiful handmaidens. The one on the left held a bowl of grapes. The one on the right had a pitcher of what I assumed was wine. The grape girl had fair skin, bright red hair, and blue eyes. She was rather slender. The other handmaiden had the type of perfect hourglass figure I associated with Disney princesses. I'd only met a handful of people with that kind of figure in real life, and they'd all been daughters of Aphrodite/Venus. This girl's skin was a bit darker than the other girl's. Her long hair was dark brown. Both girls looked a couple of years older than me, seventeen or eighteen, and very much still alive. The girl holding the wine was crying silently, tears streaming down her face. The girl holding the grapes was stoic, a dull sheen to her blue eyes. Both of them wore scanty white gowns and a thick metal collar around their necks. Chains ran down from these collars and were attached to the floor.

My fists clenched in rage. Everything I saw turned red. Jocelyn noticed. She grabbed my hand, squeezing tight. She looked livid too, but the look on her face read, _Not yet. You'll get us all killed._

"Sire," Caecilius said, "I bring you the Roman visitors and their companions."

Nero stood – which proved that those legs somehow did hold his weight – and turned towards us. I didn't like the look of his face much, either. He eyes were a weak, watery blue. He had at least three chins. His pale face was more spotty and pock-marked than anyone at Goode High School. And when your face is spottier than Dylan Hassos – who had worse acne than anyone else at Goode – then you've got a problem. Honestly, I had a hard time believing the voice I'd heard belonged to this man. Yet, when he spoke the melodious tenor came out of him. "Caecilius, you may leave us." Caecilius bowed, then turned and departed. Nero turned to Matt and Emily. "Well, well! Welcome to my humble abode! It's always nice to see new Roman faces around here!"

" _Ave_ , Emperor Nero," Matt said. He didn't sound happy to be submitting himself before the Emperor. It sounded more like he was trying to swallow a bowling ball and all ten pins. Still, as sour as I was about being told to stay quiet, it was probably good he was doing the talking. I had a tendency to yell at people who upset me, which had led to more than one near-death experience. "I am Matthew Jackson," my brother continued, "Centurion from the Fifth Cohort of the Twelfth Legion Fulminata. This is Emily Zhang, member of the Third Cohort, also Twelfth Legion."

" _Ave_ ," Emily managed, though her voice was even more constrained than Matt's.

"And these three –" Matt started.

Nero held up a hand. "I do not care for the identities of your Graecus servants." Gods, I wanted to chop that guy's head off. "And you can dispense with the formalities. You are my honor guests, Matthew Jackson and Emily Zhang."

"As – as you say, sire," Matt said.

The Emperor waved his hand. "Just call me Nero. Oh, and how rude of me. I forgot to introduce you to my handmaidens." He clapped his hands. "Girls, introduce yourselves."

The redhead spoke first, her voice flat and resigned, despite the pronounced Irish brogue. "I am Máev O'Donoghue."

The other girl's voice was a lot shakier as she said, "I – I'm Melanie Rodriguez."

"Melanie," Nero said warningly, "get your emotions under control or I'll be forced to punish you again."

I heard roaring in my ears. Before I knew what was happening, I'd drawn my sword. Instantly, the guards sprung into action, the tips of their spears centimeters from my throat. I felt flushed with anger. I was so mad, I could hear my heartbeat pounding in my skull. "Elizabeth," Jocelyn said warningly.

I was itching to do it. To surge forward and try to kill Nero. But if I tried it wouldn't do any good. I'd end up dead, and my friends would probably get killed, too. Then forget what my prophecy said about _one_ of them dying. We'd all be dead. Slowly, I lowered my sword and sheathed it. The guards moved away from me, though they were far tenser than earlier.

"I suggest you control your Greek better, my friend," Nero said, a steely tone to his voice.

"My apologies, it won't happen again," Matt replied hastily. He flashed me a look, then turned back to the Emperor. "So Nero, how did you come to control this coliseum?"

"Ah, that is quite the story, my friend," he said. "I suppose it all started with the Earth Mother, Gaea. When she was waking, she sought aid from anyone in the Underworld who might be of service to her. I volunteered myself and those legionnaires that had been loyal to me. I told her we'd make a good army for her. Gaea said she already had an army – her children, the giants, and hordes of monsters. Still, I was able to persuade her that we might be of use in some capacity. I proposed that my Legions could sweep up the leftovers after her main army had done their work."

"Ah, of course," Emily said, tightly. "Makes sense."

"Exactly," Nero said, smiling. "In return for my assistance, some of the survivors I captured would be mine to entertain me and my Legions with games. Of course, Gaea was defeated. Those of us who had returned from the dead were being hunted down by Death and by Half-Bloods, especially that insufferable son of Hades, Nico di Angelo. One of my men, Caecilius, actually, suggested we flee into the Labyrinth. We found this huge chamber and turned it into a coliseum. A fitting start for my new Empire."

"How did you turn an empty room into a coliseum?" Theo asked, apparently forgetting the rule about speaking.

"Silence scum!" Nero spat.

Emily repeated the same question.

"Well, Emily, you know how it is," Nero said pleasantly. "We Romans are great builders, even down here in the Labyrinth. Even more reborn found their way here, joined the crowd. Lemures came, too, enjoying the return of _proper_ games. Occasionally, Roman demigods such as yourselves find your way down here and join the crowd." _Legacies_ , I thought. "If they refuse my generous offer of living here and enjoying the games, then they must fight in the games. Sometimes Greek demigods wander down here. They are forced to fight in the games, too. But I won't make your servants fight in the games, of course. I wouldn't want to deprive two excellent legionnaires of their servants."

"Thank you, that's generous," Matt said. By his tone of voice, I could tell he was thinking the same thing I was. Nero had casually slipped in an ultimatum. Either join the audience, or fight in the games.

"You're quite welcome," Nero said. "You know, occasionally mortals even wander down here. I make them fight in the games, too, of course. They're more entertaining to watch than monsters, though that isn't saying much." Down in the pit, the Telkhines and Dracaenae were still going at it, bursting into dust any time one of them got hit. Nero sighed. "Sadly, even the demigods that fight here are rarely fun to watch for more than a couple of rounds. I miss having proper gladiators. Still, it's not all bad. Sometimes there are still break out performances. And occasionally beautiful young women wander down here to serve me." He stroked Máev's cheek. She gave an almost imperceptible shudder. Theo and Jocelyn each gripped one of my arms tightly, no doubt to hold me back. I was grinding my teeth so hard that I'd probably need to see a dentist after this. I desperately wanted to kill this guy.

"Máev here is mortal," Nero continued. "But she has been with me long enough that the Mist no longer obscures her vision."

"That can happen?" Emily asked, surprised.

"Of course," Nero said. "After enough exposure the mortal brain simply cannot continue to deny reality. Melanie, here, of course, is a daughter of Venus. She's not been here very long, but as you can see, she is very beautiful. Anyway, I have told you my story. Now, won't you tell me yours? What brings you into the Labyrinth with your Greek servants?"

Theo and Jocelyn's eyes bore into me. Their "Elizabeth is gonna do something reckless because she's angry" alarms were probably blaring at defcon five. I knew that if I moved again, we'd all end up dead, so I didn't. But it was taking all of my self-control. Matt and Emily were doing a marvelous job, though. Keeping their cool, speaking politely, despite all of the horrible things Nero was saying and doing. With any luck, they'd be able to get us out of here, despite the implied threat Nero had made earlier. And we really did need to get moving. Drake was no doubt closing in by now. Thinking of the demititans gave me a slight stab of panic, but my anger at Nero was so great that it easily drowned out my fear of getting captured by Drake.

However, as necessary as it was for us to move on, the thought of doing so made me feel guilty. How could we just leave these two girls here? And how could we leave Nero to continue capturing mortals and forcing them to fight for his amusement? What kind of heroes would we be if we let a monster like Nero live?"

"Well, Nero," Matt said, in answer to his question, "we're actually on a quest. We are searching for Pasiphaë herself." Saying that had been a mistake, and I was pretty sure Matt knew that. But it was too late now.

"And what do you want with the sorceress?" Nero asked suspiciously, his voice darkening.

"Nothing bad," Matt lied quickly. "We only want to talk to her. Ask her for help. But we have to pass through here first. Would you be kind enough to give us permission to do so?"

Nero laughed. "Matt, listen to yourself. You ask Pasiphaë for help? She despises demigods! No, no, you'll just get yourself killed. And even if that wasn't the case, you heard what I said earlier. Roman demigods who come to my domain either have to stay or they have to fight. I can't go bending the rule now."

"I would… love to stay here," Matt said, barely forcing out the word "love." "But I have to do my duty first. Surely you understand that. Duty and loyalty are important qualities for any legionnaire."

Nero considered this. "Perhaps I could let you and Emily through, if you'd be willing to give me your Greeks in exchange."

"The Greeks are non-negotiable," Matt said quickly.

"Well I'm afraid I can't let you pass through for nothing," Nero said. "You can stay here and enjoy the games, fight in the games, or give me your Greeks."

A mechanical whirring sound was coming from my right hand. I was clenching my fist so tightly I was straining the gears, apparently. I barely noticed, though. Frankly, if Theo and Jocelyn weren't holding my arms so tightly, I probably would've lunged at Nero again.

Matt seemed to be thinking quickly, trying to come up with some alternative plan to get us out of here. It came to him. I could practically see the lightbulb appear over his head. "Alright, Nero," Matt said, "I have an idea I think you'll really like. You were just saying that you missed having proper gladiators. You miss having warriors who can survive more than two rounds, right? Well what if my friends and I do fight in your games, but instead of fighting until we die, how about we fight five rounds. If we survive, then we move on. If not, then at least you got quality entertainment out of us. And I promise you we can provide quality entertainment."

Nero's eyes gleamed. Matt's idea definitely appealed to him. "That is a bargain I could make. But ten rounds rather than five."

"Seven," Matt countered.

"Very well," Nero said. "If you and your companions can survive _seven_ rounds and I am properly entertained, then you may continue with your quest. Guards! Take them below so that they may prepare."

* * *

 **AN: Oh boy! Next chapter will be pretty exciting! Also, just a reminder, I won't have access to my computer this week, so I won't be able to post again until next Sunday. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the chapter, and I'll see you in a week!**


	12. Chapter 12: We Play Some Games

**AN: Hey guys! So, I'm back. Posting this chapter one day late. Whoops :( Yeeaaah... sorry about that. I was just so exhausted after getting back from vacation that I couldn't get it posted last night. But I am back now! So as always, I want to thank you guys so much for all of your support throughout this story! So before we get into the chapter, it's time for some review responses.**

 **First, from the-only-soldier-left: "** **Idk if I love Matt or hate him. That was pretty smotth, but SEVEN FREAKING ROUNDS?! what were you thinking?! Y'all are gonna be worn out!"  
A: Yeah, Matt's pretty smooth when he wants to be, lol. As for whether to love or hate him... well, I'll let you decide for yourself as you read more of the story. But you are right - they'll be worn out.**

 **Next, from Unicute17: "AWW i wanna know what happens ):"  
A: Well the good news is, the wait is over!**

 **From EllaAnnieGrace: "Did you choose the number seven for a reason? Because I have a feeling that you did... *cough* three decendants of the seven *cough*"  
A: I may have done that for a reason ;)**

 **Also from EllaAnnieGrace: "I have a questoin: why the Author name bfalt1?"  
A: It's related to my real life name. I've considered changing my author name to something related to Elizabeth Jackson, since that's mostly what I write, but for now I'm leaving it as is.**

 **Finally, one more from EllaAnnieGrace: "YOU ARE LATE! And do you read reviews from already completed stories?"  
A: I know, I'm really sorry :(  
And yes, I read all reviews I get on pretty much everything I post, but there's usually not a great way for me to respond to reviews I get on older stories. I can't exactly do review responses on a story I've already completed.**

 **Alright, that's enough from me. I'll see you guys later. DFTBA!**

* * *

Chapter 12: We Play Some Games (And I Don't Mean Monopoly)

A couple of guards led us to a small staircase that accessed the underbelly of the coliseum. The space beneath the stairs was dark, lit only by a couple of sputtering torches. The main gates into the arena itself shed some light into the area, too, though it wasn't much. The guards led us into a separate cell, with a small set of bars near the cell's ceiling that look into the arena. "Wait here," one of our guards said. "We'll come get you when it's time."

Then he closed and locked the gate behind him. The room we were in had a low bench, but other than that, it was empty. I could only imagine what people felt like waiting in here for their death. Of course, maybe I didn't have to imagine it, since my friends and I might very well die shortly. I growled in frustration. "I really hate Nero," I said. "We've got to kill him."

"Oh yeah," Jocelyn said, "that's a great idea. That'll go really well. And how _exactly_ are we supposed to do that?"

"Theo could shoot him with an arrow," I suggested.

"From down in the arena pit?" Theo asked. "The angle itself would be hard enough to get right, but with that awning… well there's no way I could guarantee a clear shot. I might hit one of his guards, which would alert all of them. Or even worse, I might hit one of his 'handmaidens.'"

"Then we find a way to get out of the pit," I insisted. "And we go to his box and kill him."

"But we're outnumbered," Emily pointed out. "Not to mention the dozens of archers along the top row. They'd turn us all into pincushions."

"Look, Jackson, Nero is deplorable," Jocelyn said. "I agree with you. But I don't see how we can take him out and survive. We've got to continue on with our quest, and our best bet for that would be to fight through whatever challenges he throws our way before he lets us move on."

I didn't say anything. She was right, of course. Our best bet of making it out of here alive and continuing on with our quest was playing along with Nero. But I hated it.

Then, Matt spoke up, "Actually, the plan I came up with does involve killing Nero."

Jocelyn raised her eyebrows. "Oh, so you weren't just throwing us under the godsdamned bus with the seven rounds bullshit. So, do tell, Matt, what is your oh-so-brilliant plan?"

"Joce, chill," I said. I didn't want her ripping into Matt, especially after the argument we'd had. Matt shot me a brief 'thank you' glance, which was an improvement over earlier today when he wouldn't meet my eyes at all. "So what is your plan, Matt?" I asked.

"Simple," he said. "The lion."

I gasped. It was brilliant. "Of course!"

"I'm not following," Theo said. "The lion? How does the lion help us?"

"Well it's the Nemean Lion, right?" Matt said. "If we can get Nero to send it out against us and if we defeat it –"

"Then we'll get its pelt as a spoil!" Emily exclaimed, catching onto the plan.

"Exactly," Matt said. "And since the pelt is invincible, the archers won't matter. Neither will any of the other guards."

"Newsflash," Jocelyn said, "killing that thing isn't exactly going to be easy. And even if we do, that pelt is only going to cover one of us. How do we stop everyone else from getting shot full of arrows?"

"Whoever gets the pelt is gonna be the one who takes out Nero," Matt said. "Everyone else will just help that person out of the pit. The guards attention will probably be focused mostly on whoever is up top, so everyone else down in the pit should be safe. Or at least have a better chance of staying alive."

"It's still crazy dangerous, but it could definitely work," I said. "Plus, what kind of heroes would we be if we didn't take down Nero?"

Theo nodded, like he liked the plan. Emily looked pretty determined. Jocelyn still seemed hesitant, but I knew she wanted Nero taken out just as much as the rest of us. "Alright," she finally said. "But if this gets us killed, I'm gonna say, 'I told you so,' to all of you for the rest of eternity. Especially you, Matt."

Matt smirked. "Consider me warned."

Theo, meanwhile, had begun to undo the bandages around Emily's arm. "Good news, you're all healed up. Just in time for the crazy plan that will probably get all of us killed."

"Yippee," Emily said flatly. Suddenly, she was gone, replaced by a hedgehog. Then she transformed back into a human. "At least I can turn into animals again. That'll be helpful in the arena."

"Actually, don't do that," Matt said. "At least not until after we beat the Nemean Lion. That way, it'll be a surprise when you transform into something large enough to get whoever is wearing the pelt over the wall."

I raised my eyebrows, impressed, and very slightly off-put. Matt was doing really well taking charge right now. His plan, while dangerous, could actually work. He had taken charge while we were talking to Nero, too. He really was a good leader. Except, I was the one who was leading the quest. And what exactly had I done to that effect so far? Emily was the navigator. I had been so livid the entire time we were with Nero that I'd almost gotten us killed. And even if I hadn't he wouldn't've listened to a Greek. What had I really done to lead this quest so far? Give the others who were pulling more weight than me the go-ahead?

Suddenly, I heard the metal door behind us open, and a group of guards appeared. "It's time."

My friends and I all looked at each other, then followed the guards' lead out of the cell and towards the main gate accessing the arena. In the coliseum proper, Nero's voice started speaking. "What a match we just witnessed! But now, I have a special treat for you all. Some new guests of mine have agreed to fight in the arena. They have assured me they will fight seven consecutive rounds, or die trying!"

"I never said anything about consecutive," Matt muttered.

"It was sort of implied," Jocelyn countered.

"Please welcome Matthew Jackson and Emily Zhang of the Twelfth Legion and their three Greek servants!" Nero yelled. The metal gate in front of us opened, and the guards pushed us out into the arena. The crowd's applause and cheering were deafening. I looked around the pit where we'd be fighting. The floor glittered slightly, no doubt from the monster dust scattered in with the normal dirt. I glanced up at Nero's box seating. Theo had been right about the angle and the darkness of the box. A clear shot would be nearly impossible, even for someone as skilled as him.

The five of us formed a loose circle in the center of the arena, preparing ourselves for whatever Nero might throw at us. Once the audience's cheers began to die down, Nero called out, "For the first round, our brave gladiators will fight… Jefferson High's cheerleader squad!"

" _What?_ " I spat.

The gate opposite the one we entered the stadium by opened up, and a half-dozen monsters with flaming hair, sharp fangs, and mismatched donkey and bronze legs came out doing flips. They all wore tattered cheerleader uniforms. Empousai.

I drew Marianas. Next to me, Emily shifted, her long _spatha_ at the ready. Jocelyn cocked her pistol. Theo drew his bow taut. "Guys, what are you doing?" Matt said. "We can't hurt a bunch of mortal cheerleaders!"

"They're not mortal," I said. "They're –"

The Empousai attacked, flying at us, growling, their talons outstretched. Theo let loose his first arrow. It nailed the first Empousa right between the eyes. She burst apart, wailing. Jocelyn leaped backwards, narrowly avoiding the talons of another one and fired her gun. The bullet blasted the Empousa apart. She did a quick turn on her heels and blasted another one who was inches away from slicing apart Matt. Emily and I moved outward simultaneously, our swords cutting an X through the air and destroying two more Empousai. There was just one left now, and she was almost on top of Matt. He looked confused, but understanding dawned on his face at the last second. He rolled away, then plunged his gladius into the monster's side. All six were dead in less than a minute.

The audience was silent. Very slowly, they started clapping, though they seemed less-than-enthusiastic about it. "Well done," called Nero, though he sounded very annoyed. "That was too quick, though. Do try and make things more interesting this round, won't you? Speaking of which, you'll be fighting… a horde of Cyclopes!" Matt and I looked at each other, dismayed. Why did it have to be Cyclopes? Our Uncle Tyson was a Cyclops. Understandably, we had mixed feelings about fighting any of them.

The gate through which the Empousai had emerged opened again and ten huge Cyclopes emerged. However, these guys must have been Roman Cyclopes, as they were shorter than other Cyclopes I'd met. That, and they had horns. They roared and charged us. Matt and I backed away quick. Emily stepped through between us, her _spatha_ swinging upwards in a deadly arc. The closest Cyclops burst into powder. Two came stomping around her, trying to get at her flanks, but Jocelyn lashed each of them with her whip, leaving a nasty welt across their faces. The monsters howled in pain and backed away. Theo was retreating, firing sonic arrows that made the nearby Cyclopes clamp their ears in pain.

Meanwhile, Matt and I were still struggling to do anything but dodge the Cyclopes attacks. A few of them had noticed. Four Cyclopes were backing us into the wall of the arena. "We're gonna have to start killing them," Matt said, ducking a fist.

"Tell them to stop cheating then," I sneered, rolling away from a kick.

"You would not hurt me, would you Elizabeth?" one of the Cyclopes said in a perfect imitation of Uncle Tyson's voice. "I held you the day you were born."

I let out a guttural roar and whirled around, cutting the Cyclops who'd said that in half. Just like that, the spell was broken, and Matt and I were back in action. We ripped our way through the Cyclopes that had surrounded us like they were made of paper. I dashed over to Jocelyn, who was reloading her pistol. I practically leaped over her head and stabbed the Cyclops closing in on her in the eye. He yelled in pain, then burst apart.

"Good timing," Jocelyn muttered, locking her new clip into place. We turned to help the others, but the fight was over. Our second round was done.

This time the audience was a little more enthusiastic, though not by much. We'd still disposed of the monsters pretty quickly. When Nero spoke, it was clear from his voice that he was quickly losing patience. "Well done heroes," he said shortly. "But once again, you dispatched your opponents too quickly. Spend more time fighting them. Relish the battle."

"Maybe we wouldn't be so quick if you actually gave us a challenge," shouted Matt, intentionally egging Nero on. The crowd "oooooh'ed" loudly.

Nero's voice seemed to stall out for a moment before he said, "Fine? You want a greater challenge? Guards! Send in the giant scorpions!"

Three of the metal gates opened. Out of each came a massive scorpion. And by massive, I mean ten feet long – not including the tail. Gus, Jake, and I had come across similar giant scorpions the previous year, but it hadn't actually been us to beat them. That had been the Hunters. I had no clue how we were supposed to beat these things.

"Oh, nice one, Matt," Jocelyn muttered. "Insult him, that will definitely help us."

"I need to get him angry enough to send in the Nemean Lion," Matt snapped back.

"That's enough, you two," I interrupted. "If you haven't noticed, we're kind of in the middle of something."

My friends and I backed into our loose circle again, the three scorpions closing in on us slowly, their pincers snapping menacingly. The crowd roared for death, though whether for ours or the monsters', I wasn't sure. They probably didn't care either way as long as it was _entertaining_. Anger welled up inside me again. I _hated_ being a spectacle.

Suddenly, the scorpions scuttled forward, shooting towards us at top speed. I ran to meet the one nearest to me. It swiped at me with one of its pincers. I dodged, then lashed out with my sword. I lopped off the tip of one of its claws. The scorpion hissed. Its tail sprung at me. I rolled backwards. The point slammed against the ground with a loud _boom_. I'd once heard that the bigger the scorpion, the less deadly its poison. I somehow doubted that remained true for these guys. And even if it did, getting stuck with a point that big would have some serious health repercussions anyway.

I dove sideways as the tail came rocketing down towards me again. Suddenly, one of Theo's arrows embedded itself in a chink in the monster's exoskeleton. It squealed in pain and rounded on my friend. I transformed Marianas into trident mode and fired a blast of energy at the monster. The blast dissipated harmlessly across its scales. The scorpion turned and slammed me with the side of its uninjured claw. I went flying backwards, the wind knocked out of me, and tumbled to a stop by Matt's feet.

Matt had switched to lance mode and was jabbing at his scorpion. Blood trickled from the monster's ugly face. Matt had apparently poked out one of its eyes. I clambered to my feet, switching back to sword mode and slicing off one of the scorpion's claws altogether, stopping an attack that would've snapped my brother in two. Still, the monster didn't disintegrate.

"Thanks," Matt panted. He dropped to one knee, bracing his lance against the ground as the scorpion's tail came shooting down towards him. The tip of the weapon jammed into a chink in the tail's armor and the scorpion instantly recoiled. Its other claw was swooping around, but I stepped to Matt's other side and sliced the tip off of that one. At this rate, they might start calling me Elizabeth Jackson: Claw Destroyer.

"These things are tough," Matt said. "How do we kill them?"

"No idea," I said. I scanned the arena, checking on the others. Theo was alone against the scorpion I'd first attacked. He was dashing around, swift as a gazelle, keeping out of range of the scorpion's mangled claws and its tail, firing an arrow whenever he had an opening. A dozen arrows stuck out of it, lodged in the monster's chinks.

Jocelyn and Emily weren't having any more luck against the third scorpion. Jocelyn was firing her gun, but the bullets were ricocheting off of the monster's scales. She hadn't even bothered to lash out with her whip. It wouldn't have done anything against the scorpion with its scales. Emily kept leaping in and jabbing at chinks. The scorpion would swipe at her, but it'd always miss by a long shot. I realized she was using her magic to conceal her real location from the monster.

Despite our best efforts, all we were doing was annoying the monsters. We needed to find a way to kill these things before they tired us out. Because once that happened, we were toast. The problem was, none of our weapons could penetrate the monster's flesh deep enough through the chinks to take them out. Not unless a bigger hole was made. _Hmm…_

From Theo's direction, there was a loud explosion. I whirled around. Monster guts rained down over that part of the arena, turning to dust as they hit the floor. I realized what must've happened. Theo had managed to get one of his explosive arrows lodged in one of the gaps in the monster's scales. It had worked. Unfortunately, the explosion had apparently knocked Theo back. He slumped against the wall of the pit, dazed.

The crowd was loving it, at least. Their cheers had reached a new level of ear-shattering. I wanted to go help my friend, but Jocelyn was already backing away from her and Emily's scorpion towards him, and I didn't want to crowd him.

"Elizabeth!" Matt yelled.

I dove aside just in time as the scorpion's tail came down where I'd just been standing. That had been _too_ close. I needed to stay focused. I'd almost come up with a plan to beat this thing. What had it been? Then the last piece slid into place, and I knew what I had to do. I wasn't sure it would work, but it was worth a try. Blades and bullets couldn't get through the scales. The chinks didn't allow our weapons to penetrate deep enough to kill the monsters. But could blunt force crack a large enough hole in one of the scales? Large enough so that a blade could pierce deep enough to kill the thing?

 _Only one way to find out_ , I thought. I switched Marianas to my left hand and dashed around to the scorpion's left side. The scorpion had refocused on Matt for the moment, which was perfect for what I needed to do. I clenched my metal hand into a fist, cocked back, and punched as hard as I could. Cracks cobwebbed across the scale. The scorpion hissed in pain. I yanked my hand back quickly, shaking it. I was glad that Jake had decreased the pain sensitivity, but it still smarted.

Where I'd punched the scorpion, chunks of scale fell away, revealing a perfectly circular hole in the monster's armor. I guessed that if I could plunge my sword into that hole, it'd go in deep enough to kill the damn thing. Unfortunately, as soon as I'd yanked my hand back, the scorpion whirled towards me. I somersaulted backwards as its tail shot at me. Simultaneously, Matt dashed forward, slid across the scorpion's back, whirled around, and plunged his lance deep into the hole I'd created. The monster exploded.

There were more cheers from the audience. I was pretty sure that at this point they could give a jumbo jet a run for its money on the decibel scale.

I turned to go help Emily with the last scorpion, but she didn't need any. She had gotten her monster on its back. She'd probably used magic to somehow flip it. Emily was standing on its belly, her feet set far apart. The creature's legs writhed in the air, which was sorta sickening to watch. Emily raised up her _spatha_ and plunged it straight down through the weak point in the monster's underbelly. The blade sunk in up to its hilt. The monster burst apart, and Emily stumbled as she suddenly dropped a few feet to the ground.

Did I say the crowd's cheers could compete with a jumbo jet? Well they'd reached rocket level volumes now. Clearly, we'd been more entertaining this time around. My friends and I regrouped in the center of the arena. Theo was on his feet again, but he still looked dazed. Blood trickled from his temple and his eyes were wide and unfocused. All of us were worse for the wear after that fight. We were coated in sweat and dirt, and we were panting hard.

"I don't know how many more rounds we can do and still have a chance against the Nemean Lion," I said, using the audience's noise as cover to talk about our plan. "We need Nero to send it out next round. Otherwise, we're screwed."

"We're probably screwed anyway," Jocelyn pointed out.

"Gee, thanks bluebird of happiness," I said flatly.

"So how do we get Nero to send the lion out?" Emily asked.

"We've got to keep taunting him," Matt said. "It's our best bet. He loves these games and he craves the crowd's approval. We have to use that to our advantage."

"Yeah, because taunting him worked so well already," Jocelyn said snidely.

"He's right, Joce," I said.

The crowd's cheering was starting to die down. Nero was no doubt about to announce the next round. We had to make our move first. Matt did so. "Are you not entertained?!" he yelled. The crowd renewed its applause.

Jocelyn blinked. "Did he just quote _Gladiator_?" she muttered.

"Yes, well fought," Nero shouted, trying to make himself heard over the audience. "For the next round, you shall face –"

"Something more challenging than those scorpions, I hope," Matt yelled.

The crowd "oooh'ed" at the dis. "More challenging?" Nero said incredulously.

"Yeah, those scorpions were easy," Matt lied, adding a cocky laugh for good measure. "Right guys?"

The rest of us laughed along with him. "Piece of cake," I added.

"See?" Matt said. "Even the Graecus scum found that challenge easy."

"Nonsense," Nero spat. "It took the five of you much longer to defeat those scorpions."

"Well you did tell us to make it more interesting," Matt rebutted. "Had we been trying to take out those scorpions as quickly as possible, we could've killed them in less than a minute." Matt was on a roll. Before Nero could get in another word, Matt had already ploughed on, "The scorpions' armor was just too imperfect. There were way too many flaws. Sure, the scales were hard, but that wasn't nearly enough. One of these Graecus scum," (he was having way too much fun throwing around that phrase), "managed to punch right through it. And there were tons of chinks that were just way too easy to exploit. Surely you've got a monster harder to kill than those."

The crowd roared, wanting to see that fight. Even though I couldn't see Nero up in the shade of his box, I could feel him growing increasingly uncomfortable. "Perhaps I do," he said. "But the coming round is only the fourth one. Why would I not save such a monster for the final round?"

"Then perhaps you shouldn't have used the scorpions in the third round," Matt retorted. "Like I said, they were easy, but I've got the feeling that you don't have much else better than them. If you wanted to save your best for last, maybe you should've held off on the scorpions." I was afraid Matt might be pushing his luck here, but the crowd was loving it. And Matt and Emily had been right earlier when they'd been telling me about Nero. He wasn't like other rulers who did whatever they thought best – either for themselves or for their dominion. No, Nero was more like a needy child with inattentive parents, doing anything and everything he could to get their attention and approval. I could almost see his willpower crumbling.

"Very well," Nero called out. "For the next round, our heroes shall face… the Nemean Lion!" If I'd thought the crowd had been loud before, I'd been wrong.

"I can't believe that worked," Jocelyn muttered.

One of the gates opened and our next opponent leaped out, roaring so loudly it actually managed to drown out the crowd, which I didn't think was even possible. The Nemean Lion was absolutely terrifying. It was much larger than an ordinary lion. Its claws glistened. Its fangs were the size of my first knife. Or my second knife. Or my third knife. Its coat glistened tanish-gold.

"You know, I decided I don't like this plan anymore," Theo said weakly.

"Just aim for the mouth," I said, my voice coming out as a hoarse whisper. "We'll be fine."

"If by 'fine', you mean we'll be lion chow, then yeah," Jocelyn said, "we'll be fine."

Emily made a noise that might've been a whimper. "I hate lion chow."

The lion regarded us coolly, its legs tensed like it was preparing to pounce. Matt stood in front of all of us, his weapon in lance mode. "We've got this, guys," he assured us.

The lion pounced.

* * *

Fighting the Nemean Lion was like banging your head against a brick wall. No matter how hard or how long you bang, that wall is gonna be fine. Meanwhile, you'll just give yourself a concussion. Similarly, no matter how much we attacked the lion, it was doing more damage to us than we were to it.

Theo fired volleys of arrows at every opportunity, but they all shattered harmlessly against the monster's hide. Jocelyn used her whip like a lion tamer, but for all the good it did she might as well have been using a wet spaghetti noodle. Matt, Emily, and I circled the lion, jabbing at it fruitlessly with our weapons. We kept trying to get him to open his mouth wider, but the lion was having none of that. Apparently, he'd learned to keep his mouth shut. Even when he roared, he kept his mouth tight.

I stabbed towards his mouth, but the lion swiped at me. I cut off my attack and rolled to the side. Suddenly, I felt a burning pain across my left thigh. I hadn't moved quickly enough. The lion's claws had raked across my thigh, ripping the pant leg in three horizontal slashes. The skin underneath was badly torn and blood flowed freely, soaking my pants.

I tried to back away quickly from the lion as he made to swipe at me, sensing my weakness, but I stumbled, falling to my butt. My life flashed before my eyes. Then Emily snapped her fingers and I was instantly ten feet away, lying on the ground near Theo's position. Theo reached into his quiver and nocked his last arrow. He took perfect aim at the monster's mouth and fired. The lion turned his head just in time, and the projectile shattered harmlessly against the side of his snout.

"Well I'm all out," Theo grunted. "I hope you have a plan."

"Not yet," I said. But I was trying to come up with one. My brain was processing all the information I knew about the Nemean Lion. I didn't see any other way to kill it besides getting it to open its mouth wider, but I wasn't sure how to go about doing that. We didn't have any food to entice him with. So we were going to have to get him to open his mouth some other way. But how?

Jocelyn's whip came down towards the lion's snout, but he caught her whip between his fangs. The lion tugged hard, pulling Jocelyn forward, and slashed at her with his claws. My heart stopped. The line from my prophecy about a friend dying rang in my ears. _At the end a friend will die._ Yet miraculously, Jocelyn didn't get sliced into several pieces. Her lightning-fast reflexes saved her life. She turned aside just in time so that the lion's claws didn't rake across the front of her chest. Instead, they ripped into her side. She screamed in pain. The wound was really bad, obviously, but she was alive. For now, anyway. Emily did her teleport trick again, and Jocelyn was on the ground next to Theo and I. Now it was just Emily and Matt fighting the lion, but I didn't know how long it would be before the lion injured one or both of them, too. Jocelyn, meanwhile, was cursing up a storm next to me, gripping her side in pain.

Pain. That was it. Just like Jocelyn had screamed in pain, the lion was sure to roar in pain if we could hurt him. But how could we hurt a creature with an invulnerable hide? I remembered earlier, the lion fighting that poor mortal boy. When the lion had finished devouring him, the guards had cowed the beast back to its cell by using electric spears. The points obviously hadn't done anything, but the electricity had hurt the lion. Energy could injure the lion through his hide, which meant…

I pressed the trident button in my crossguard. "Get ready, Matt!" I shouted. I saw him nod very slightly.

Blue-green energy gathered at the tips of my trident. I fired at the lion. The bolt of energy impacted the lion's face, sending waves of the energy all over his body. The lion recoiled, roaring in pain, his mouth wide.

Matt didn't hesitate. He whirled around his weapon, switching back to gladius form, and plunged it into the lion's mouth. One of the lion's teeth sunk into Matt's forearm. He cried out in pain, but he didn't flinch. The lion dissolved into monster powder, and on the ground where he'd been standing there was a pelt shimmering tannish-gold.

The crowd's excitement reached an all-new peak. They'd clearly never seen the Nemean Lion beaten before. Jocelyn, Theo, and I staggered over towards Matt and Emily. Matt was bending down to pick up the pelt. Emily was panting hard, but I saw a triumphant gleam in her eyes. We'd won. But it wasn't over yet. We still had to take out Nero.

Matt seemed to read my mind. "On my signal," he said.

I almost said that we should go on _my_ signal, as I was the quest leader, but it was Matt who'd taken charge here in this coliseum. It was his call to make. As the crowd's screaming died down, Nero spoke up. "Well done, heroes! I must congratulate you! In the history of this coliseum, none of our participants were able to defeat the Nemean Lion. His pelt will make a fine gift for me!"

"Actually, I'm going to keep it," Matt said, pulling on the pelt like a jacket. He flipped what had been the lion's face up over his head, like a hood.

Nero faltered. "Uh… very well. It is only right that a hero should keep his spoils. For your next round –"

"Oh, there won't be any more rounds," Matt interrupted. "Now!"

Suddenly, in Emily's place, there was a huge Silverback Gorilla. She picked Matt up and threw him up to the top of the pit wall. Archers fired at him, but their arrows shattered against the lion pelt. Matt rolled to his feet in the stands. The crowd started to scream, in terror this time. Blood was still trickling down Matt's arm, but he flicked his gladius and went to work with his lance. Guards stormed him, archers let loose volley after volley, but no one could stop him. His lion pelt was like steel.

Down in the pit, we had issues of our own. All of the gates into the arena opened and guards came streaming towards us. Theo drew his emergency knife, but it really wasn't going to be good enough for fighting so many of these guys. Jocelyn and I, meanwhile, were both badly injured. Things didn't look so great for us.

"Here!" Emily shouted, human again, as she passed Theo her _spatha_. Theo held the blade awkwardly. He could use a sword, but I knew it had never been his strong suit. "Use me for cover!" Emily added.

Before I could ask what she meant, Emily had transformed into a giant scorpion, exactly like the ones from before. All three of us stood close to her. She lashed out with her pincers, snapping Roman zombie soldiers in half. Her barbed tail whipped around, skewering Romans. Jocelyn and I took cover behind her claws and shot at Romans, Jocelyn with her gun, me with my trident. Theo stood back by Emily's tail, slashing outwards with Emily's sword at any Roman that managed to get close to us. Some of the Roman archers had started to fire at us, though most were still firing at Matt in vain. Their arrows hit Emily's scales and shattered harmlessly. They weren't good enough to hit the chinks in her armor from that distance.

I blasted another Roman zombie to dust. "Well this just got a lot more fun."

Jocelyn fired her pistol, killing two Romans with a single bullet. She was still holding her side with one hand, which was drenched in blood now. "Oh yeah, this is _so_ much better. But you know, as much _fun_ as we're having, I'd sorta like to finish up before I _bleed out_."

I shifted my weight slightly as I fired my next shot, wincing as I was forced to put weight on my injured left leg. "Let's hope Matt hurries up, then."

Up top, Matt was proving himself more destructive than a hurricane. He whirled through ranks of Romans, his lance piercing their armor like it was made of cardboard. Their blades clattered harmlessly against Matt's new accessory. The archers up top still weren't having any luck. The crowd was still screaming, retreating away from Matt. Most fled towards the top of the stands, only obscuring the archers' shots even more.

Matt was getting close to Nero's box. I could hear the Emperor screaming, "No fools! Stop him, stop him!"

Matt ripped through three more Roman soldiers, then lifted another with a single hand and tossed him into the side of Nero's box. The Roman hit one of the poles supporting the cloth sides and roof. The entire thing pitched forward and fell into the pit. Nero was exposed.

He was standing up, his ugly face contorted with rage and fear. He was holding his ukulele in front of him like a sword. His guards looked terrified. "Kill him!" the Emperor shouted. Scared as the guards may have been, they followed his orders and charged at Matt.

That was Nero's last mistake. All of his remaining soldiers up top were fighting Matt, all the ones down below were focused on Emily the giant scorpion, myself, Jocelyn, and Theo. The archers were divided between us and Matt. No one was watching Nero's handmaidens anymore.

They had been crouching behind his throne, but no more. They came out, hands on the chains binding them to the floor. As Nero opened his mouth to yell another order at his troops, the young women threw the chains around his neck and pulled. I was pretty sure I was the only one to see the gruesome scene. Nero was choking, his face turning purple. He collapsed to his knees. The young women kept tugging away at the chains.

Then, Matt burst through the line of guards and was right there. I was too far away to see for sure, especially with the lion-face hood, but I was pretty sure Matt had a stunned look on his face. Just then, the archers realized Nero was being choked by his handmaidens and opened fire on them. Matt reacted instantly. He put himself between the archers and the girls, the arrows shattering harmlessly against the Nemean Lion skin. Matt stood over Nero, and now I thought I saw a disturbing look on Matt's face. It was a look of hatred and disgust. Apparently, Nero wasn't dying quickly enough for my brother. He flipped his lance and switched back to gladius mode. He stabbed Nero, and the Emperor crumbled to dust, leaving behind nothing but his withered laurel wreath.

"He killed the Emperor!" someone screamed. Everyone froze for a moment. I dared to hope they'd pull a move like at the end of Wizard of OZ. You know, when all of the Witch's guards celebrated when Dorothy killed her? Well no such luck.

Someone else, I think our old friend Caecilius yelled, "Kill them!"

Jocelyn fell to her knees, unable to fight through her pain and blood loss anymore. Matt stood over the two young women Nero had enslaved, but I knew he could only protect the two of them for so long. My left leg screamed out in pain. Emily's pincers were moving more slowly. Theo was clearly feeling the effects of his head injury. He was gripping the side of his head, lashing out weakly with Emily's _spatha_. All our efforts had been for nothing. Sure, we'd killed Nero, but we weren't far behind.

Suddenly, there was a flash of blinding purple light. When it faded, the coliseum had crumbled. The Roman soldiers and crowd were gone. We were still in the same room, but it was flat now, with five unobscured passageways branching off of it. My friends and I all stood together in the center of the room, Emily human once more, as did Melanie and Máev, whose chains had disappeared.

In front of all of us stood an unfamiliar man. He was tall and thin, wearing white robes and a toga trimmed in purple. His face was lined, but the lines didn't make him look old. Rather, they gave him a dignified appearance. His pale blue eyes glittered intelligently. His steel grey hair was thinning, receding off his high forehead. He wore a laurel wreath like Nero had, but unlike Nero, his was made of solid gold.

Matt and Emily leaped to attention, performing a Roman salute – right hand in a fist, arm diagonally across the chest – and dropped to a knee. Theo, Jocelyn, and I glanced to each other. Jocelyn and Theo bowed slightly. I, being my usual impertinent self, didn't. Instead, I asked, "Who in the name of Poseidon's sweaty underpants are you?"

Matt and Emily looked at me with a mixture of alarm and reproachfulness. "Elizabeth," Matt hissed. "Show some respect."

"It's alright," the man said, his voice smooth. "I've never been much for ceremony." He fixed me with his eyes and smiled slightly. "I'm pleased to meet you, Elizabeth Jackson. I've heard a lot about you. My name is Julius Caesar, and we don't have much time."

* * *

 **AN: Aaaaaaand I'll see you guys on Wednesday!**


	13. Chapter 13: We Take a Bit of a Detour

**AN: Hey guys! Once again, I want to apologize for posting that last chapter a little late. But we are back on track now! And, as always, I want to thank everyone for your continued support! Writing these stories has been incredibly fun, and I'm glad you guys are enjoying it as much as I am! Now, for some review responses.**

 **First, from EllaAnnieGrace: "** **Dun Dun Dun! I'm sorry for over-loading you w/ questions. And I was asking the last one you anwsered because I reviewed 'The Missing Prophecy' the first time I read it saying,"don't you mean the St. Lawrence River," in response to the phrase 'St. John's River'"  
A: No need to apologize! I enjoy responding to reviews! And, yes, I did see that review you left on "The Missing Prophecy." To answer your question a whole heck of a lot later, I actually did mean St. John's River. Often, when I'm writing these stories, I will refer to Google Maps to plan out the quest route. As it turns out, the area that Jake, Gus, and Elizabeth were in in Maine wasn't particularly close to the St. Lawrence River. However, there was a river in that area that also served as the border between the US and Canada - St. John's River.**

 **Next, from the-only-soldier-left: "YAAAAAAASSSSSS! Ave, Caesar! Ave, Caesar!** **And I think I'm leaning toward loving Matt XD."  
A: Well you're enthusiastic about Caesar, haha. And I'm glad you're leaning towards loving Matt!**

 **From cghe: "BTW, using the standard 300 words/minute reading speed, with the three books and "side stories" you've wasted ~14 hours off of the avg. reader. Every hour was worth it, though. I can only imagine how much effort you put into those stories."  
A: Holy crap. That's a lot of time. Thank you for sticking with me for roughly 14 hours! And I do put in a lot of effort, but it's definitely worth it on my end, too.**

 **From an anonymous Guest: "I just wanted to say that I appreciate Elizabeth having anxiety. I've struggled with it for years and it's always been a little infuriating to me whenever I'd read a book because heroes were so naturally fearless and calm almost all the time, which would often make me feel weak. So it's nice to see a strong character who has anxiety, even if it makes her feel weak because it's great to see something like that represented. Thank you for including that trait."  
A: Thank you for leaving this review. It means a lot to me that you'd be willing to share that. And I agree with you. Even in stories I love, often times, heroes are too cool and collected all of the time. Even if they go through trauma, they seem to handle it without any adverse effects. That's why I decided to have Elizabeth struggle with anxiety, and it is incredibly important to how I conceptualize her as a character. And going forward, her struggle with anxiety will continue to be an important part of her character arc.**

 **From N: "was that a jabba the hut-esqu ending for nero"  
A: I could say maybe all sly-like, but... yes. The way I killed off Nero was a reference to Jabba's death in Return of the Jedi.**

 **From DemiTribute: "AY! New Chapt- JULIUS CEASER?! What the what? If he's been dead for, like, ever, then how does he know Elizabeth?"  
A: Good question. I don't address that directly in this chapter, but you should be able to figure it out when you find out how he's even there.**

 **And lastly, from AnamariaJovel: "Oh dear. This is getting so REAL. (I wish I could use italics and bold here)** **You are just the best, I hope you understand the gift you have. Truly it is something to marvel at. :)"  
A: I hope you're ready for more intensity, because it only gets crazier! And thank you so so much for the compliment. It was incredibly nice of you to say that!**

 **My goodness! A lot of reviews to respond to this time! Well, that's quite enough from me, then. Enjoy the chapter! DFTBA!**

* * *

Chapter 13: We Take a Bit of a Detour

"Uh, no offense, but aren't you supposed to be dead?" I asked. "I mean, weren't you like… stabbed to death by the members of the Senate?"

"Elizabeth!" Matt hissed.

Caesar held up a hand. "It's alright," he repeated. "Yes, Elizabeth, shortly after I declared myself dictator for life, the Roman Senate murdered me. Some of them were even my friends. They did not like how I was… bending the laws by which our government had been established. And I understand why they did what they did. But you see, the Roman Republic was suffering terribly. The government was corrupt and dysfunctional. Many of our Legions were in disarray. And the commoners… well, they were suffering worst of all. Someone had to do something before Rome crumbled altogether. Someone had to take charge. And so, I did. I wasn't the first to break the rules, of course. Many had done it before me. But the difference was, those people didn't upset the status quo terribly. I was proposing radical change, and so I was killed. Does that mean what I did was right? Perhaps not, but I believe that I did what was best for Rome."

I thought about that for a moment. I thought of Nero, so obsessed with popularity that he'd become a monster, and that had led to his downfall. Caesar… well, perhaps his actions hadn't been real popular, at least not with the ruling class, but he had done what he thought was best. I figured it'd be better to be like Caesar than Nero. "I suppose that makes sense," I said slowly. "But that still doesn't explain how you're here more than two thousand years after you died. Unless you're an Underworld escapee."

Caesar shook his head. "No, I did not escape the Underworld. In fact, I never ended up in the Underworld. You see, after I died, Jupiter, Apollo, and some of the other gods believed that my actions in life had been worthy of god-hood. I was deified. In fact, the citizens of Rome realized this."

So Caesar was a god. That explained how he'd gotten rid of the coliseum and all of the Roman zombies attacking us. But that didn't entirely explain why – or even how – he was here. After all, not even Death could navigate the Labyrinth. How had Caesar found us?

Emily seemed to be thinking along the same lines as me. "Lord?" she asked, meekly. I figured she was pretty nervous, as she'd probably never met a god before. And certainly not one that was so influential to Roman history. "We're really grateful for your help, but why are you here? And how are you here? We were told the gods couldn't navigate the Labyrinth."

"Yes, that is true," Caesar said. "But when a god is strongly invoked, we can appear almost anywhere, even within the depths of the Labyrinth. And Matt here invoked me when he led the charge to kill Nero. He took control of the situation and did what needed to be done, just like I did during my mortal life. It was very Roman of him." He turned his gaze to Matt. "In fact, I foresee that you will have a meteoric rise to power in the Legion. My Legion, actually. The Twelfth was mine when I was mortal."

Matt seemed somewhat taken aback. "You – you do?"

"Indeed," Caesar insisted.

"Excuse me," Máev spoke up. "Not to interrupt, but I'm not entirely sure what's going on. I just want to get out of here. I just want to go home." On the last word, her voice broke. I felt really bad for her and Melanie. Both of them had been through so much. I couldn't even imagine what being forced to serve Nero had been like.

"Yeah, not to be rude," Jocelyn grunted, "but I hope you came to do more than tell us how great Matt is." I turned to Jocelyn and arched an eyebrow. Normally it was my job to be rude to gods. Then again, normally Jocelyn didn't have a massive gash in her side. In fact, all of us were in pretty bad shape. The cut in my leg burned painfully, and it was still oozing blood. Matt's hand was soaked completely with blood from the puncture on his arm. The actual wound was hidden by the lion skin he still had draped around him, but I could only assume it was still bad. Theo's head wound had stopped bleeding, but I was pretty sure he had a minor concussion. Only Emily was uninjured, but she looked completely exhausted. Turning into a giant scorpion had clearly drained her. Jocelyn was right – Caesar needed to get on with it so we could patch ourselves up.

"I apologize," Caesar said. "You are right, I should explain what I've come here to tell you. As I said, we don't have much time. The demititans following you are almost here."

"What?" I yelped. In all the chaos with Nero and the coliseum, I'd forgotten we were being chased. I felt my chest start to constrict. There was no way we could fight Drake and his troops, not in our condition. He'd capture us, then take us back to Gaius and…

"Elizabeth, what's wrong?" Matt asked, his voice concerned.

I was gasping, trying to bring in enough air now. I reached into my bag and dug out my meds. I opened the bottle with shaky fingers and took my dosage. I didn't know if it had been twenty-four hours yet or not. Just then, I didn't care.

"What's that medicine?" Emily asked, also concerned.

"I'll explain later," I forced out. With all my willpower, I blocked out the imaginary images in my mind of what Gaius would do once he had us and locked onto Caesar. "What – what did you want to tell us?"

"Firstly, you'll need this," he handed a small coin to Matt. "When you get to the surface – and you'll be there very soon – give this to the woman you'll meet. She will help you." Matt pocketed the coin. "Next, a warning. There is one god who has made something of a permanent home down here. You will have to pass through his domain to reach your goal. He will want to destroy you immediately, but if you give him the Nemean Lion skin, then he may at least speak to you."

"And he'll help us?" Theo asked.

"Perhaps," Caesar said, frowning. The look on his face made me think that he didn't particularly care for this other god, whoever he was. "This god is… unpredictable. But the lion skin should, at the very least, convince him to hear you out."

"Is there any way to make it… I don't know… not look like a lion skin?" Matt asked. "I mean, since we're going to the surface soon and all."

"Think of how you'd like it to look, and the Mist should do the rest," Caesar replied.

Matt closed his eyes. When he opened them, his lion skin morphed into a tannish-gold jean jacket. It actually looked kinda nice on him. "Neat," he muttered.

"Our time is nearly up," Caesar said. "The demititans are approaching rapidly." A fresh knife of panic stabbed me. I wanted to curse Caesar out for wasting so much of our time, but I wasn't sure I could take a deep enough breath to let out the string of swears I wanted to hurl at him. "Good luck heroes. And Elizabeth… you and I will speak again before this war is over."

"Wait, what?" I asked, my curiosity spiking. "When? About what?"

But it was no use. There was another flash of purple light, and Caesar was gone. I clenched my fists for a two-count, then turned to my friends. "We've gotta move. Fast."

* * *

Running away from the demititans was hard for a couple of reasons. One, we didn't know which way they were coming from. Two, none of us were in great shape to be making a speedy getaway. Theo had shoved a small square of Ambrosia in each of our mouths before we started dashing off, but even so, we were all in bad shape. My left leg was torn up pretty badly. Theo was running with a head injury. Matt had a hole through his right arm, which didn't affect his legs so much as it generally caused blood loss. Which, you know, wasn't great for running. Jocelyn was hurt the worst. The slice in her side from the Nemean Lion was deep and was still bleeding profusely. Frankly, I was surprised she hadn't passed out from blood loss. If she hadn't been a demigod, Jocelyn would've already been dead. As it was, she could barely hobble along, even with Theo half-dragging her.

Then, of course, there were our two new companions. Neither of them had received the sort of intensive training the rest of us had. I mean, sure, Melanie may have been a daughter of Venus, but it was clear she'd never been to Camp Jupiter or Camp Half-Blood. And Máev was one-hundred percent mortal. That wasn't even considering the fact that they'd been chained inside Nero's box seating for gods knew how long. They obviously weren't accustomed to this sort of physical exertion anymore, if they ever had been.

"Left," Emily shouted from the front of the group. We hobbled around the corner as fast as we could – which wasn't very fast.

"Where are you leading us?" I asked.

"A doorway to the surface," Emily said. "We've got to get Melanie and Máev to safety. Plus, if we pop up to the surface we should be able to lose our tail."

"I don't have a clue what's going on, but leaving this place would be nice," Máev managed.

None of us could argue with that logic. We rounded a couple more corners. Emily called out warnings for traps, which she seemed to be getting better at sensing. After avoiding the third trap, we rounded another corner and burst into a large chamber. Unfortunately, we ran straight into the enemy. As in, Emily ran face-first into Drake and bounced off. Matt grabbed her and steadied her. "Well what do we have here?" Drake said, his voice deep and menacing.

I felt like I'd been sucker punched in the gut. All the air shot out of my lungs. My friends all drew their weapons. Even Theo brandished his knife in one hand and his bow in the other, like he might use it as a club. But I didn't bother drawing my own sword. We were in no condition to fight. Especially not the enemies in front of us. Front and center was Drake himself. He was even more intimidating in real life. The seven foot estimate I'd given him in my dreams was spot on. And he was all muscle. His over-sized Imperial gold armor seemed tight on him. Strapped to his back was his massive double sided battle-axe.

His ten soldiers had moved into position, surrounding us. They all wore the standard demititan uniform of Celestial bronze armor and modern combat fatigues. They all pointed spears at us. Andromeda, the albino twin that had accompanied Drake, stood outside the little circle. She was pretty, but haunting with her death-like skin, white hair, and red eyes. She also seemed nervous. She was shifting her weight back and forward and glancing towards one of the exits off of this chamber every couple of seconds.

"Finally, we caught up with you," Drake went on. "Nice work, Andromeda."

The albino woman nodded, still stealing glances at the same passageway. "We should get moving back to Gaius, Drake. Something is –"

"So, you're the infamous Elizabeth Jackson?" Drake said to me, interrupting Andromeda, who was glancing towards the passage with increasing alarm. I wanted to respond to Drake with some smart aleck remark, but nothing occurred to me. And even if it did, I wasn't sure I'd be able to speak at all. Drake didn't really scare me, despite his size, but knowing that he was about to take me back to Gaius had me on the verge of a panic attack.

"I must say," Drake continued, "after I heard about how you killed Marina, I expected someone a bit more impressive. At least more impressive than that pitiful son of Zeus I tortured last year. Ah well, I suppose flukes are bound to happen occasionally. But I assure you, Jackson, it won't happen again. Not with me."

"Drake!" Andromeda snapped warningly.

Drake continued to ignore her. "After all, I'm the son of Atlas, the greatest warrior –"

"Can you spare us the boasting?" Jocelyn said impatiently. "If you're gonna kill us, just do it already."

Drake snarled. "Perhaps I will kill _you_. But I do have orders regarding Elizabeth Jackson. I'm to deliver her to Gaius."

"Oh good," Jocelyn said. "But nothing about me, right? So yeah, why don't you go ahead and do that. That way I don't have to keep listening to your voice." _At the end a friend will die_. My mind was spinning. Was this the end of the quest? Was Jocelyn about to die? I felt like I was going to cry.

"Joce, shut up!" Theo hissed.

She turned slightly and winked almost imperceptibly. I tilted my head sideways, confused. Then my terrified brain finally connected the dots. If she got Drake mad enough, it would stall him. And Andromeda kept looking nervously down one of the passageways…

Drake was so livid, he couldn't form words. When he finally did, he said, "You are pushing your luck." Each word was clipped short. "Now, are you going to come quietly, or am I going to have to execute a couple of you first?"

"DRAKE!" Andromeda shouted.

At that moment, all Hades broke loose. Out of the passageway that Andromeda had been eying, a swarm of unusual monsters streamed into the room. They were huge, standing at fifteen feet. They had six limbs: four legs, and two large, bent, pincer-like arms. The heads atop their slender bodies were triangular with bulbous orange eyes. Their skin was a bright lime green. We were being attacked by a bunch of massive praying mantises.

One of the monsters snapped up a demititan and dragged him away, screaming. The demititan soldiers broke their circle around us to fend off the monsters. The monsters' presence grounded me. "Run!" I yelled at my friends. We grabbed the two girls, shouldered past a couple of the demititans, and dashed towards one of the other passageways.

Out of nowhere, Drake leaped out in front of us. "Oh no you don't!" he yelled. "You aren't getting aw – ack!" One of the mantises had picked him up in both pincers. The monster must've been incredibly strong. A man that size had to weigh a ton.

We ducked around Drake – who was struggling to pull his axe free – and the mantis holding him and continued our dash for the exit. We barreled into the tunnel, adrenaline giving us new-found speed, the shouts of demititans echoing behind us.

"We've got incoming!" Emily yelled from up front.

"Holy Hermes, we have the _worst_ luck!" Jocelyn cursed. I glanced over my shoulder. Behind us, one of the praying mantises was quickly gaining on us.

"How long to an exit?" I asked.

"Only a couple more yards," Emily shouted. "We're almost there!"

I chanced another glance. The mantis was only a couple of feet away from us now. I didn't see how we were getting away. Then, Jocelyn whirled around and fired her pistol. The monster hissed in pain and flinched back. Ahead, a blue symbol glowed on the wall. Emily slammed her hand against it and the wall disappeared. The seven of us charged through it into some sort of machine shop or engine room. We didn't really take the time to look. The door wasn't closing quickly enough behind us, and the mantis had recovered from its gunshot wound.

We bolted up a set of metal stairs in front of us and burst through a door into open daylight. I winced, throwing a hand up over my eyes. After being in the Labyrinth for the last couple days, the sunlight was blinding. I couldn't see much of anything, but I could hear just fine. And from the sounds of it, we were in a bustling city. Behind me, Emily and Theo slammed the door we'd come through. Emily waved her hand and the door glowed with faint red light. "That should hold it for a few seconds," she said. "Maybe a minute. We've gotta run!"

My eyes were adjusting to the light. We'd emerged from beneath the largest Ferris wheel I'd ever seen. Around the corner of the building we'd come out of, a huge line of people, at least a hundred, waited to board the thing. On our right, there was a low stone wall overlooking a river. On the left were buildings. That was all I was able to take in in the split second before we started sprinting away from the fairground ride. "These mortals are in danger," Matt panted.

"We're in no shape to fight," I breathed out as we pushed past confused pedestrians. "The only chance for us, and for these mortals, is to find help." I hated myself a little bit for not having the power to handle the monster myself, but honestly, what were we supposed to do? Especially with Melanie and Máev with us.

Ahead of us, a set of stone stairs led up to a bridge. We took the stairs three at a time, then turned right to cross the bridge. On the other side, I could see a familiar structure. It was a long, regal building made of tannish stone with a big clock tower at the end, on the left side of the bridge. "Wait a minute," I gasped. "That's Parliament Hall and Big Ben. We're in London!"

"You're just figuring that out now?" Jocelyn wheezed.

Screams came from the direction of the Ferris wheel – the London Eye, I realized. The giant praying mantis had broken out and was rapidly approaching the bridge. After us, no doubt. We were less than halfway across when the monster made it onto the bridge. Pedestrians screamed, cars swerved. The monster made its way straight up the center of the bridge. "Looks like we don't have a choice," I said. "We'll have to fight it." I came to a stop and drew my sword. My left leg throbbed with pain. I looked at my friends, injured and exhausted as we all were. Everyone had drawn their weapons, grim and determined looks on their faces. I looked at Melanie and Máev, who had a mix of emotions on their faces. Fear, confusion, bitterness. I figured that last one was there because after all they'd been through, after finally making it back to the surface, it looked like their time was finally up. I couldn't let that happen. I remembered the silent promise I'd made Nico – to keep Emily safe. I was about to tell Emily to take Melanie and Máev to safety while the rest of us fought the monster when I heard a strange noise. It was a siren, but unlike any siren I'd ever heard before.

The monster stopped, five yards from us, and tilted its head in confusion. From the direction of Parliament Hall, three black SUVs came speeding down the road, lights in their windshields flashing dark green and white. The vehicles came to a stop right behind us with a screech. The doors of the two SUVs on the outside opened, and soldiers jumped out wearing black uniforms and dark green military berets. They faced the monster and trained their automatic weapons on it. Whoever these soldiers were, I had the feeling they could see the monster just fine.

The front doors of the middle SUV opened, and two people climbed out, both wearing black business suits with white shirts and black ties, a silver clip holding the neckwear in place. The woman had bobbed brown hair. Her eyes were pale blue and sparkled intelligently. The man's hair was blond and his eyes storm grey. His cheekbones were rather high. He was handsome, and with the suit he could've been the next James Bond. But more than that, I felt like I'd seen him somewhere before.

"Monster," the suited man said, his voice familiar, too (you know, besides the fact that he spoke with a British accent), "return to whatever pit you came from or be destroyed." The mantis seemed to get over its confusion. It shrieked in challenge. The man rolled his eyes. "They always say that. Fire at will!" The soldiers opened fire. The mantis burst apart into dust.

I let out a relieved breath. The suited woman turned to us. "Basil?" she asked the man. Her voice was very British, too, though she had a different British accent than the man. "What do you think about this lot? Monsters?"

It may have been too soon to let out that relieved breath. "We're not monsters!" I insisted.

Basil studied us suspiciously. The more I looked at him, the more I was sure I'd seen him somewhere before. But where had I seen him? "Americans, eh?"

"That lot is," Máev said.

"And a young woman from Ireland," Basil added. He continued to look at us. "Well, we can't know for sure whether they're monsters or some other sinister force until we examine them more closely. We'll send them to the Tower of London, for now."

I didn't know if he meant the famous Tower of London (which I was pretty sure was nothing but a tourist attraction now) or something else, but whatever he meant, it sounded an awful lot like we were being arrested. We couldn't really afford to get arrested. Who knew how long it would take to get through all of that nonsense, if we could at all. We didn't need that. What we needed was medical attention and a chance to rest.

The woman opened her mouth to give the order, but then Matt said, "Wait! I have something for you!" He fished the coin Caesar had given him out of his pocket and handed it to the woman.

She examined it for a couple seconds, then looked back at us with raised eyebrows. "Basil, they're friendlies."

"What?" Basil asked. "How can you know?"

"The coin is from my father," the woman said. _Okay, so she's Caesar's demigod daughter_ , I thought. _Why not?_ "He would only have given this coin to heroes he considered worthy of his help, which means they're worthy of our help," she went on. "We should bring them back to headquarters."

Basil scrutinized us. Finally, he sighed. "Fine," he said. He turned to the other soldiers, who were all awaiting orders. Other than us, there was no one else in the area. The mortals had cleared out quickly. "Load up and move out!" Basil told them. They climbed into their SUVs. Basil glanced back at my friends and I, sneered slightly, then strode back to the one he and the woman had climbed out of.

The woman stayed with us. "Welcome to London," she said. "My name's Melody Williams. I'm sorry about all the confusion. There have been a lot of monster attacks recently. We're all a little on edge."

I frowned, staring after Basil as he climbed into the front left seat of the SUV. "Who are you guys?" I asked.

"The Royal Demigod Corps," Melody answered. "We keep the United Kingdom safe from all sorts of Greek and Roman baddies."

"And that man?" I asked. "Basil, right? Who is he? And what's his problem with us? I feel like I recognize him."

"You're American demigods, right?" Melody asked.

"Well, a couple of us are legacies, but yeah."

"Well, he and his sister had a falling out a long time ago," Melody said. "She went to America, so American demigods always rub Basil the wrong way. That might be why he looks familiar to you, too. You might know her – his sister, I mean. Her name's Elesa Oswald."

* * *

 **AN: And that's it for now! I'll see you guys on Sunday!**


	14. Chapter 14: Our Accommodations Are Way

**AN: Hello everyone! Happy Easter for those of you who celebrate it! I hope you had a great day. And for those of you who don't, I hope you had a great day, too. As always, I want to thank everyone for your continued support, regardless of how you've been interacting with the story. I know I'm really a broken record at this point, but I do honestly appreciate it more than I can ever say. Now, before we get going, it's time for some review responses.**

 **First, from AnamariaJovel: "** **Man, you certainly know how to keep hitting us with the plot-twist bricks!"  
A: Haha, I try.**

 **Next, from SkylightRiver678: "Nice ! I love this twist ... its starting to sound like one of those mystery novels ;)"  
A: Hmm... Maybe I should write a mystery sometime...**

 **From the-only-soldier-left: "Do you watch Doctor Who? Cos Melody Williams sounds veeerrryyy familiar. o_O"  
A: Yes, I do. And yes, that name choice was very intentional. Often times, when I'm struggling with coming up a name, I'll make names that are references to other things I enjoy.**

 **From EllaAnnieGrace: "Basil Oswald, Huh? That name does sound uniquely British."  
A: Haha, thanks. I thought so, too :)**

 **And lastly, also from EllaAnnieGrace: "Self promotion alert in the sentence 'For instance, your Uncle Jason and Aunt Piper had to go kill a bunch of them in England'"  
A: I didn't necessarily write it in there as self-promotion, but more as a way of acknowledging that my stories take place in the same canon.**

 **Alright, that's enough from me. Enjoy the chapter and DFTBA!**

* * *

Chapter 14: Our Accommodations Are Way Over Five Stars

We crammed in the back of the SUV. As she drove, Melody pointed out various London landmarks. Meanwhile, Basil Oswald sat silently in the passenger's seat doing work on a tablet. It still kinda blew my mind to think that this guy was Elesa's older brother. I mean, he must've been ten years older than her, at least. Still, the resemblance was there. They had the same high cheekbones, very similar voices, and identical eyes. Although that last one probably didn't count. Pretty much all kids of Athena had those eyes. Heck, even I had those eyes.

Meanwhile, Theo did what he could for all of our wounds. He gave all of us more Ambrosia and Nectar, which made the pain in my leg a little less horrible but made me so hot that I was pretty sure the seat was gonna catch on fire.

"So you said you were part of something called the 'Royal Demigod Corps,'" Matt said. "What exactly is that? Is it like Camp Jupiter or Camp Half-Blood over in America?"

"Oh yes," Basil replied sarcastically. "That's exactly what we're like. Clearly, we look just like campers."

"Oh cut the shit, Basil," Melody said. Then to Matt, "We're not really much like either of your American camps, no. Being a member of the RDC is more of a profession. We're employed by the royal family. Our job is to keep them, and the country, safe from monsters, vindictive gods, and those sorts of things." I raised my eyebrows. That was pretty cool. Their job was fighting monsters? Why wasn't that a job in the US? Back in America the only ones fighting monsters were… well, us. Campers. I liked the idea of having professionals take care of monsters.

"You see," Melody continued, "the royal family has a long history with the gods. In fact, the current dynasty can trace its ancestry back to Jupiter. Queen Elizabeth II was the first demigod monarch the United Kingdom had had in a long time. Daughter of Hebe." That explained why she'd lived so long. Queen Elizabeth had still been around when I was a very small child. It made sense that being the daughter of the youth goddess gave her long life. "Anyway," Melody said, "the Royal Demigod Corps was established during the First World War. Many demigods served in the army, but the royal family wanted an organized force back home to combat monsters. It was a chaotic time, after all. Last thing anyone needed was the country falling apart because of monsters."

"You know," Basil interrupted, "maybe it's not entirely wise to be telling them everything about us. We still don't know who they are."

"Oh give it a rest, Basil," Melody said. "I told you, my father clearly thinks they're worthy of our trust. He would not have given them the coin if he didn't."

"And if they killed your father's heroes and took the coin?" Basil countered. His loathing towards us was disconcerting. What could Elesa have possibly done to make him hate American heroes so much?

"That's not possible," Melody said. "The coin is magic. If my father's chosen heroes had been killed, then the coin would have disappeared. Face it, Basil, this isn't about being cautious. This is about your sister."

"Don't bring her into this," he snapped.

"You're going to have to let it go eventually," Melody pushed.

Basil got so angry, his face went straight to purple. He opened his mouth to respond, but just then Máev spoke up. "Excuse me, I'm not sure what all of this is about, but the two of us," she indicated herself and Melanie, "aren't with this lot. They saved us, but we aren't –"

"I just want to go home," Melanie added, her voice breaking.

Basil glanced back, and the anger left his face. Well, mostly. "Someone was holding you two captive?" he asked softly. Melanie and Máev nodded. "Alright, we'll get you two back home, don't worry. What are your names?"

"Máev O'Donoghue," the Irish girl answered.

Basil began typing into his tablet. "M-e-d-b? That's the spelling?"

"Aye, that's right," Máev said.

I blinked, taking a second to process the exchange. "Wait, what? Your name is spelled M-e-d-b? In what universe is that pronounced Máev?"

Máev, or Medb, rather, shrugged. "It's a traditional Gaelic name. I don't know why it's pronounced that way."

Jocelyn was in a bit of a daze next to me, due to her blood loss, but she still managed, "That sounds like a fun language. I should learn that one next. Give myself a bit of a challenge." I was worried about her, but Theo nodded at me in reassurance. Jocelyn would be okay.

Basil cleared his throat, giving Jocelyn and I annoyed looks, then returned his attention to Medb. "You live in Dublin, yes?"

Medb smiled, probably remembering home and clearly happy to be returning. "That's right."

Basil whistled. "Well you've been away for a long time. You've been on the missing persons register for two years."

Medb's face darkened. "Two years?"

"Two years," Basil repeated. "That surprises you?" Medb just stared ahead, gaping. Basil examined her critically, but he didn't say anything else to her just yet. Instead, he turned even more in his seat and looked at Melanie. "And what's your name, miss?"

"Melanie Rodriguez."

Basil typed the name into his tablet. After a moment, he said, "You're from Santa Fe, New Mexico?"

"Yes," Melanie said, a worried look on her face. No doubt because she feared getting similar news to Medb – that she'd been gone for a long time.

"You've been missing for six months," Basil said.

"But that's… that's just not possible," Melanie said. "I've only been gone for a few weeks…"

"How _is_ that possible?" Melody asked. "I mean, how did it feel so much shorter than six months?"

"They were being held hostage in the Labyrinth," Emily said. "Time moves differently down there."

Basil was busy at work on his tablet again, no doubt trying to make arrangements to get Melanie and Medb home. Melody seemed intrigued, though. "The Labyrinth? You were in the Labyrinth? Would you be able to tell us more about that?"

"Correction, tell you," Basil said flatly. "I couldn't care less what they're up to."

Normally, Basil's attitude would've pissed me off, but for some reason, it didn't just then. Maybe it was because I was too curious about whatever had happened between him and Elesa. Maybe I was too tired and injured to spare the energy to be angry.

Next to me, Theo leaned forward. "What's the date, anyway?" he asked. "Since time runs differently in the Labyrinth and all."

"July second," Melody replied.

I raised my eyebrows. Matt voiced what I was thinking. "We were in there less than two days and a week passed?"

"We're not getting back to camp by the fourth, are we?" Theo asked, frowning.

I turned to look at my friend. "Did you have plans for the fourth?"

"No," Theo lied quickly. He turned away. It was sometimes hard to tell with him, but it looked like he was blushing. Did he have a date for the fireworks?

Jocelyn groaned from the other side of Theo. "Am I hallucinating from blood loss, or is that Buckingham Palace?"

I turned and looked out the window. Sure enough, we were approaching a huge stone residence surrounded by an ornate fence. Out in front was a huge statue topped by a golden figure. We drove around it, then drove along a street on the side of the palace. The royal family's residence looked even bigger from the side. "Are we – are we coming here?" I asked.

Melody answered by turning the car into an access lane. We stopped at a gate house. A security guard poked his head out. Melody flashed a badge, and the guard opened the gate. We drove through and were officially on the royal family's property. Melody pulled the SUV into a parking spot and turned off the vehicle. "Welcome to Buckingham Palace," she said. "Home to the royal family, the state rooms, and the Royal Demigod Corps' headquarters."

"Is the royal family here?" Theo asked excitedly.

"Is the Union Jack flying over the building?" Basil asked, an annoyed edge to his voice. "The answer is no, by the way. Which means that the royal family isn't home. And even if they were, you wouldn't get to meet them, anyway."

And on that unpleasant note, we unloaded out of the SUV and onto the red cobblestone exterior courtyard. The other two SUVs from the bridge had just arrived, too. The soldiers were unloading equipment from their trunks. Melody began leading us towards an entrance to the building, but Basil called, "Listen, Melody, I'm going to make sure Medb and Melanie get home safely."

Melody turned. "Shouldn't Doctor Lang examine them, first?"

"We feel fine," Medb said. "Or I do." Melanie nodded in agreement. Medb turned back to Melody. "Honestly, I just want to get home as quickly as possible."

"Anyway," Basil continued, "I'll take care of it. You can do whatever you see fit with the rest of this lot." He glanced distastefully at me and my friends. "I'll be back in a couple days."

Melody sighed. "Fine. I'll see you later, Basil."

Basil nodded and strode over to a sedan parked nearby. Possibly his personal car. Medb and Melanie turned to us and thanked all of us for everything. Melanie even gave Matt a kiss on the cheek, which made him light up like a Christmas tree and made me snicker. Then they went and joined Basil at his car.

Melody continued to follow Basil with her eyes until the car had left. Jocelyn coughed. "Yeah, don't mind us. It's not like any of us are grievously injured or anything." She had a point. She really wasn't looking good. Theo was half carrying her. Still, the fact that she was being sarcastic was encouraging. Melody started and glanced back towards us.

"Of course," she said. "Sorry about that. Let's go."

The interior of Buckingham Palace was even grander than the exterior. The ceilings were high and vaulted. Rows of magnificent windows looked outside. Chandeliers hung from the ceilings in several of the rooms we passed through. The furniture was ornate. Jocelyn perked up slightly as we walked through the halls. From the darting of her eyes, I could tell she was assessing the value of each and every item in the building. At one point, her free arm shot out to try and grab a crystal ashtray from a table. I grabbed her wrist. She shot me a sour look, but retracted her hand. She'd gotten better about her kleptomaniacal tendencies that last couple years, but I supposed that the riches of the British royal family were almost too much for her to handle.

"I'm going to take you to see Doctor Lang first," Melody was saying. "He'll help treat all of your wounds. Then I'll take you guys to the RDC mess hall to eat. You can tell me all about your quest there. You can stay here over the night, too. Then I can get you back to the Labyrinth tomorrow morning."

I wondered vaguely just how much of a lead that would give Gaius, though not much probably. A few hours on the surface probably wouldn't be more than a few minutes in the Labyrinth. Besides, my friends and I really needed a break. "Thank you for your help," I said. "We appreciate it. Especially since Basil seems to hate us. What exactly happened between him and Elesa, anyway?"

Melody looked away. "I don't know that I'm the right person to ask. Not sure I feel comfortable telling you his business. Let's just say that they used to be really close, and then Elesa did something that Basil considered unforgivable." _And thus she went to America_ , I thought. _Makes sense, I guess._ "Anyway, we're here." Melody indicated a door that had elaborate gilding on it. It was identical to the other doors we'd passed, so I wasn't entirely sure how she could tell. Still, she led the way into the room, where several hospital beds had been set up. Some of the beds were occupied. Several nurses were helping the patients.

A man in a lab coat turned towards us when we entered the room. His hair was grey, his eyes pale green. He looked about sixty. "Ah, Melody," he said, his voice Scottish, "what have you brought me today?"

"These five are American heroes," she said. "They need medical attention. We're also hosting them for the night."

The man turned to us. "Pleased to meet you. My name's Doctor Lang, son of Asclepius. What seems to be the problem?"

Theo took over the explanations, being the son of Apollo and all. He pointed to Matt. "Puncture wound on his right arm," he said. He indicated me, "Bad slash to her left leg." And finally he nodded to Jocelyn, who he was still supporting. "Bad slash to her lower chest. Her wound is the worst. She's also lost quite a bit of blood. I have a very mild concussion, but I've mostly recovered, I think."

Doctor Lang looked mildly impressed. "You seem to know your stuff, kid. Alright, let's get all of you treated."

I was seen by one of the nurses. She bandaged up my leg, then gave me some unicorn draught, which would help heal my wound without the risk of incineration. Because, you know, incineration is typically bad. While I was behind the set of curtains, I also changed into my spare set of pants. Then I returned to the front of the room, where Emily, Theo, and Matt were waiting. Matt had hung the Nemean Lion skin over the back of the chair he was sitting in. His right arm was enwrapped in bandages like my leg.

I sat down next to him and cleared my throat. The last few hours, we'd been sort of busy, but it was high time I talked to him. "Hey, listen," I said. "You were awesome today. I don't know what we would have done without you."

Matt shrugged. "Someone else would've stepped up, I'm sure. Hell, you're the leader of the quest. You probably could've handled it just fine."

I laughed. "Yeah, right. You know my temper issues. You really took charge of the Nero situation. You're the hero of the day. I just want you to know that. And also… I'm sorry about what I said to you last night. It was uncalled for. I'm just stressed out. Which isn't an excuse really, but an explanation."

"It's alright," Matt replied simply, but I could see the tension leaving his shoulders. We sat in comfortable silence for a couple seconds before Matt asked, "So what was going on with you earlier? When you took those pills, I mean." Emily glanced up curiously from her conversation with Theo. Theo glanced at me, too, a shrewd look on his face which I couldn't quite read. That was disconcerting. Normally I could see right through Theo.

Before I could work up the courage to explain to Matt and Emily about my panic attacks, the curtains around Jocelyn's bed were pulled back and she came towards us, looking much better than she had before. She also wasn't wearing a shirt. Just below her black sports bra, white bandages encircled her lower chest and abdomen. Matt suddenly became very interested in looking at the floor, a faint blush on his cheeks. No doubt this was the closest he'd ever been to seeing a girl undressed. Jocelyn noticed Matt's reaction and rolled her eyes, snickering slightly. Then she turned to Melody, "Doctor Lang said you could get me a new shirt? My old one is ruined. Getting ripped open and bled all over can do that."

After hooking Jocelyn up with a new shirt – a dark green one with white writing reading "Royal Demigod Corps" – Melody led us to the "mess hall." It was actually more like a fancy dining room. There was a long wooden table in the center of the room, the walls of which were hung with fancy oil paintings. Melody sat us at the end of the table, far away from other members of the RDC. Some of them wore suits like her, some wore t-shirts like the one Jocelyn had on.

After we had our food, Melody got right to business. "So, tell me about your quest in the Labyrinth. How did you get those injuries?"

"The Nemean Lion," Jocelyn threw out before beginning to shovel down food.

"You battled the Nemean Lion?"

"Yeah, we did," I replied. "In fact, that jacket Matt's wearing is its pelt, just disguised."

"You know, this jacket is a little warm," Matt complained. "Too much for summer time. How do you stand wearing that leather jacket every day?"

"I got used to it," I said. "Anyway, about our quest. I don't know if you're aware here in the UK, but over in the States, we're at war."

"With the son of Kronos," Melody said. "We'd heard. Though I must say, it's a little hard to believe that Kronos had a mortal son."

"It was hard for us to believe, too," I said. "But it's true. We've got tons of evidence for it. But that's not the point. The point is our quest in the Labyrinth has to do with our war."

"The son of Kronos is trying to do something with the Labyrinth?" Melody asked.

"Sort of," I answered. "What he wants is help from Pasiphaë, the sorceress who created this version of the Labyrinth. A couple years ago, Gaius – er, that's his name, by the way – stole a spell book from Hecate herself. We believe Gaius wants Pasiphaë's help casting a spell from that book."

"Basically, we're trying to beat him to her," Matt added. "Because whatever spell Gaius wants to cast… well it can't be good for us."

"And what exactly do you plan to do if you beat him to Pasiphaë?" Melody asked.

"Incapacitate her," Emily said. "But she's very powerful, so we won't be able to keep her down for long."

"Which is why we've got help," I continued. "Waiting at the Labyrinth entrance we took to get in, there's a team waiting to help us subdue Pasiphaë more permanently."

"What makes you think you'll be able to take her down, even temporarily?" Melody said. "I mean, she's one of the most powerful magicians who ever lived."

"We've got a pretty phenomenal magic user ourselves," Theo said.

Emily seemed embarrassed by the praise, but she nodded. "I've been using magic for a long time. My mom taught me, and she's incredible. The only one to actually beat Pasiphaë at her own game."

"We can do it," I insisted.

Melody still seemed to have reservations, but she nodded. "Very well. I'll trust you to do what you've set out to do. I do have one more question, though. How did you meet my father?"

Matt explained about Nero and the coliseum. Melody seemed impressed by the story. In fact, she appraised us with new-found confidence after Matt related how we'd handled the situation. Then we took turns explaining how we ended up on the surface here in London.

After we finished eating, Melody showed us to our rooms – one for Matt and Theo and one for me, Emily, and Jocelyn. Just before Melody left us for the evening, I asked one more question, "Hey, is there WiFi?"

"Of course," Melody said. She relayed the information to me.

"Thanks," I said, typing the information into my phone. "Also, is there a good spot where I can make a couple of private calls?"

* * *

 **AN: And that's it for now. Hope you enjoyed, and I'll see you guys on Wednesday!**


	15. Chapter 15: The Floor is Lava - Really

**AN: Hey guys! Welcome back to the next chapter. And, surprisingly, I'm posting this at a decent hour. Huzzah! So as I always say, I want to thank everyone for all of your continued support. I'm especially grateful for all the reviews you guys have been posting. I love reading your thoughts about the story, and I really enjoy doing review responses!**

 **Speaking of which, let's get to those. First, from Stranger: "** **1\. Isn't Rodriguez the last name of Chris, son of Hermes...Clarisse's boyfriend?"  
A: Honestly, I completely forgot about that, but you are right. That was Chris's last name. There's no relation, though.**

 **Another one from Stranger: "2. Do you know how when Percy first met Chiron, Chiron talked all about the spark which moves where the influence Is the strongest with the god thing. Do you think that even in Asia and Europe and other countries or continents gods could still have children even if the spark is not there?"  
A: Yes, I do think that gods have kids in places besides where the spark of the West is. But I think that they'd be much more likely to have kids where the spark is currently - the United States - than elsewhere. Also, countries where the spark used to be would, in my opinion, have more demigods than countries the gods never called home. So, for instance, there might be a lot of demigods in the UK, but hardly any in, say, Indonesia.**

 **And one last question from Stranger: "3. Are ever going to see other of the seven except for Percy and Annabeth?"  
A: Yes. That's as specific as I can be without spoilers.**

 **A question from the-only-soldier-left: "would Doctor Lang's first name happen to be Scott? It just reminded me of the new Antman, Scott Lang."  
A: I hadn't thought of that actually. I haven't really given Doctor Lang a first name, but I'll go ahead and say Scott XD  
But in all actuality, his last name is pulled from a villain in a mystery novel and his appearance is loosely based on that of Peter Capaldi.**

 **From EllaAnnieGrace: "I bet the calls Elizabeth is going to make is not just to relay info to Nico..."  
A: You will find out about those calls very shortly.**

 **Next, Demitribute: "Wensday's too far away! can you update now? :D JK I no it takes a while to right them. ;P"  
A: The wait is over! And yeah, it does take a bit of time to crank these out, especially considering the amount of class work I have.**

 **From AnamariaJovel: "One quick question (though I'm sure this counts as a spoiler), were Drake and his lackeys able to escape the monsters in the Labryth or did they all die?"  
A: You will find out very shortly.**

 **Next, a few responses to RockRoy: "I've been reading this series for the past two days, and I have to say that it is really good. You really know how to write and the chapter titles do remind me of Riordans work. Totally love Jocelyn as a character, so she better not die on this quest."  
A: Well I hope you enjoyed the last two days of reading this series! I appreciate your compliments a lot, especially the one about chapter titles. I sometimes have trouble coming up with them, so I'm glad to hear that they're well-received.  
I'm also really pleased you like Jocelyn's character. She's one of my favorites to write. As for her not dying, well telling you one way or the other would be spoilers. You'll have to wait to find out.**

 **RockRoy: "Just one question: the veil from the prophecy wouldn't be the Mist? As in that the Mist gets dissolved and the mortal world gets to know the gods and stuff."  
A: You'll just have to wait and see. Telling you one way or the other could spoil one of the biggest pieces of the whole series.**

 **RockRoy: "Aww yeah UK demigods :) And seriously, another cliffhanger? You like those too much..."  
A: I liked the idea of UK demigods. And yes, I do REALLY enjoy cliffhangers.**

 **And one last one from RockRoy: "So, they're out of the Labyrinth now and have to get back in right? I wonder how, cause the thing constantly shifts right, so for all we know our heroes could be farther off than at the start of their maze adventure."  
A: The way I imagine the Labyrinth, it's the interior that moves around but the entrances stay fairly constant. For instance, in BotL, the Labyrinth entrance in Camp Half-Blood was connected to Zeus's Fist for years - as evidenced by the fact that both Luke and Nico use that Labyrinth entrance before BotL. The inside of the Labyrinth moves though. So in that respect, that's still the same with this version of the Labyrinth.**

 **From cghe: "I really like how your stories take place in the same canon. Just out of curiosity, what happened to Graham? Is he going to make at least a mention?"  
A: Yeah, I really like being able to flesh out the world. As for Graham... *spoiler warning for those of you who haven't read his story* well as per the short story he's in, he's still dead. Will he get mentioned? I don't know. I really liked creating him and writing that story about him. I certainly would like to mention him, but I'll only do so if there's a natural way to do that. I don't want to just shoehorn it in, you know?**

 **And lastly, also from cghe: "This book somehow seems considerably longer than the others. Was that planned?"  
A: Partially. There was a lot I wanted to do in this story, so when I was first outlining it I knew it was going to be a bit longer than the others. But then as I actually sat down to write it, some of the sections I'd planned on ended up being longer than I'd expected, so that's also lengthened the story.**

 **Wow, a lot of reviews to respond to! I really do enjoy responding to your reviews, so keep them coming. But now let's get to the main event - the chapter. Enjoy and DFTBA!**

* * *

Chapter 15: The Floor is Lava – No, Really

Melody brought me into a "small" sitting room across the hall and left me to make my phone calls. First I figured out the time difference – it was ten at night here in the UK. That meant that in New York it would be five in the evening and two in the afternoon in California. I wasn't sure which of my two calls to make first. I steeled myself as I made my choice and dialed the number.

After just a couple of rings, the screen lit up with Augustus's face. His light blue eyes lit up when he saw me. His brown hair looked a little ruffled, but otherwise he looked completely normal. "Elizabeth!" he exclaimed. "I haven't heard from you in… like, a week. Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, Gus."

"I heard you were on a quest. I was worried about you."

I felt a twinge of annoyance. I'd been afraid he'd react like this. Why had I wanted to call him at all? _Oh yeah,_ because _I thought he'd be worried._ Gods, emotions were so confusing. "Well everything is going okay," I said. I quickly explained what had happened so far. He listened intently. His eyebrows scrunched together when I explained about Nero's coliseum, but he grinned when I told him about where I was now.

"You're is Buckingham Palace?" he said. "That is _so cool_."

"Yeah," I agreed, smiling slightly, "it's pretty awesome. But anyway, tomorrow morning we're going back into the Labyrinth. Like I said earlier, time moves differently down there, so you might not hear from me again for a while. I don't want you to worry."

"I always worry."

"What's that supposed to mean?" I snapped, before I could stop myself. "You know, I can take care of myself, Gus."

"I know," Gus said quickly, clearly regretting his word choice. "That's not what I meant…"

"Then what did you mean?" I demanded.

"Well for starters, we live dangerous lives," Augustus replied. "And you live an especially dangerous one, seeing as that lunatic Gaius is so focused on you. I just worry about what he's up to, and I don't want him to hurt you again."

I was so angry at Augustus that I didn't even flinch at the reference to the highway incident. "I didn't ask you to worry, and I don't _need_ you to worry. I told you, I can handle myself, and I can handle Gaius." That last part I wasn't sure about. In fact, I was pretty sure I _couldn't_ handle Gaius, but I wasn't about to admit that to Augustus. After all, we'd been having this argument for a while now, and if he knew how weak I actually was, then it would only get worse.

"Okay," Gus said in surrender. "I'm sorry."

I breathed out slowly, trying to banish my anger and annoyance. He meant well, after all. "It's fine," I finally said. "Listen, tell Chiron about our quest progress, would you? I just wanted to check in, but I should probably get going; try and get some sleep and all that."

"Oh, um… okay," he said. "Well good luck, Elizabeth. And I… I uh…" Gus hesitated like he was trying to work up the courage to say something. I had a pretty good idea what that something was and it made me squirm uncomfortably. Gus apparently got cold feet about what he wanted to say, because he just said, "I'll see you after the quest."

"Yeah, I'll see you then," I said. "Bye, Augustus." I hung up. I sat back in the fancy chair I was in and pinched the bridge of my nose. I was feeling very conflicted about Augustus at the moment. I shook myself slightly. I'd figure out my relationship problems later. I still had another call to make.

Sierra picked up the call on the first ring. Unusually, she's put her hair in a bun. Normally she did something a bit more complicated with it. "Elizabeth!" Sierra exclaimed. "Good to hear from you. How's the quest going?" I recounted, once again, everything we'd done so far. "Wow," Sierra said when I'd finished the story. "Sounds pretty wild."

I snorted. "That's one word for it."

"You got to meet Caesar," she said, impressed.

I shrugged. "Mostly he was interested in Matt. I mean, except for the very end when he said I'd meet him again. But the rest of the time, he was giving Matt lots of praise. He did say one thing, though, that has me worried."

"What's that?" Sierra asked.

"He said Matt would have a meteoric rise to power."

"Why does that have you worried?" Sierra asked. "Isn't that a good thing? I mean, he obviously became Centurion remarkably quickly."

"No quicker than you did," I pointed out.

"It kinda was," Sierra said. "It took him longer to get off of _probatio_. I mean, he's only been a full member of the Legion for a couple of months. I was a full member for almost a year when I became Centurion. But that's not a bad thing. I mean, he's a good leader. Why would him rising quickly be a bad thing?"

"Caesar said meteoric," I repeated. "And meteors cause damage on impact. Think about it, Sierra. The only higher position Matt could have in the Legion is Praetor…"

"Oh," Sierra said, realizing what I was saying.

"Yeah."

"Well maybe that's not exactly what Caesar meant," she said hopefully.

"Maybe," I said, unconvinced. I didn't mention the dream that Matt had had - the one where he was wearing the Praetor badge.

Before we could keep going, there was a knock at the door. I glanced over and said, "Come in."

Matt poked his head through the door. "Hey, Elizabeth."

I was worried he'd overheard Sierra and I talking about him, but from the look on his face, I didn't think so. "Hey, Matt," I replied. "I'm on the phone with Sierra. Say hi." I turned so that Matt could see Sierra and vice versa.

Sierra waved. "Hey, Matt!"

Matt looked down. "Uh, hi Sierra." He cleared his throat awkwardly. "Elizabeth, I was just wondering what the WiFi password is."

I gave him the code and he departed. When the door closed, Sierra seemed to deflate. I frowned. "So you're not a huge fan of how awkward things are," I noted.

Sierra sighed. "Yeah, no. I'm not a huge fan. It's just… I thought things would get better, but it hasn't. I mean, he doesn't flee whenever I'm around but… He's still really weird around me. It's hard because he and I used to be such good friends. Now he can hardly look at me. I'd kinda hoped he and Amy might start dating, see if that helped."

"That's what you guys were talking about," I realized. "Just before we left on the quest, when Amy stayed behind after voting for you."

Sierra nodded. "She wanted to make sure it was okay with me."

"She's going to ask Matt out?"

"I don't know about that, but she thinks – and hopes – that something might happen. And so do I. Or I have for a while, anyway. I was hoping that if they were dating, then maybe Matt would stop being so awkward around me."

"Well he's too scared to ask her out," I said.

Sierra frowned. "I suppose that's my fault." I didn't have anything to say to that. It wasn't _really_ her fault – she was just truthful when Matt asked her out. Yet, Matt had taken it really hard. "I wish I could've just reciprocated his feelings when he told me," she went on. "At least then things wouldn't be weird between us. And he is an awesome guy, but I just… I've never felt that way about him. Does that make any sense?"

"Yeah, it does," I assured her. "Honestly, I'm surprised that it's taking him so long to get over it. I've never known him to hold onto anything this long." But even as I said it, I realized that wasn't true. He'd had a crush on Sierra much longer than the he'd been awkward with her.

"I just want to be friends again," Sierra said. "I don't have many close friends, period. And you're usually clear across the country from me. There aren't a lot of people here at Camp Jupiter that I'm close with. So when I first heard that Matt would be coming here, I was really excited. But then that all got screwed up only a few weeks later…"

I thought about all that. I thought about how much I missed Sierra and Matt living all the way across the country from them. Then I imagined what it would be like to be around one of them all the time, but still never talk or hang out. But I, at least, had Jocelyn and Theo. Sierra had just said she didn't have many close friends there. I got why she was so sad about how things were with Matt.

"I'm sorry, you didn't call to talk about my problems," she said. "You have better things to worry about."

I shrugged. "It's fine, honestly. I don't mind."

From somewhere in the background of the call, I heard a muffled voice call Sierra's name. She looked over her shoulder and said, "Just a minute." She turned back to me and sighed. "I'm sorry, I've got to go. Duty calls."

"Okay," I said. "Well, I'll check in again if I get the chance. If not, I'll see you after the quest."

"Good luck," Sierra said. "May the gods be with you."

* * *

I gave up trying to sleep after a couple of hours. It had nothing to do with being uncomfortable. After all, the bed I was laying in must've cost more than my parents' car, and it certainly felt like it was worth that money. And it wasn't because I wasn't tired, because I was exhausted. It had been a long day. Yet my brain refused to shut down. Finally I rolled out of bed, annoyed, and moved quietly to the door, careful not to wake Jocelyn or Emily.

When I stepped out into the hall, I discovered that I wasn't the only one not sleeping. "Theo? What are you doing up?"

Sure enough, my friend was sitting on the floor across from the door, leaning against the wall. His arms rested atop his knees, and he had his phone in his hands. He glanced up when I said his name. "Oh, hey, Elizabeth," he said, his voice oddly stifled.

I went over and sat next to him. "Were you on the phone just now? Who were you talking to?"

"Just now, Martin," he said.

Martin was Theo's older brother. Martin was completely mortal and six years older than Theo, which meant he was twenty-two. I'd never met him before, but I knew that Theo held him in high regard. "How is he?" I asked.

"Good," Theo said with a weak attempt at enthusiasm. "In fact, he just got a really well-paying job in Indianapolis. He asked if I wanted to move in with him."

"Really? That's great!" Theo had had a rough childhood. His mom was an ultra-conservative Christian fundamentalist, which meant she considered being gay a one-way ticket to Hell. Of course, she didn't seem very concerned by the fact that she'd had two children from different fathers, neither of whom she'd been married too. It was pretty hypocritical if you asked me. But regardless, when Theo had first realized he was gay, he'd told his mom. He was only ten at the time, and probably hadn't fully understood his mom's views on the matter.

When he'd told her, his mom responded by trying to beat the gay out of him for nearly a year. It didn't work, so she threw him out of the house. Martin had wanted to run away – go with Theo and take care of him. Theo had never told me, but I was pretty sure Martin had done what he could to protect Theo from their mother's wrath even before that. Theo, however, had insisted that Martin stay at home, keep going to school, and get into college. The two brothers hadn't seen each other since. Martin had promised Theo that when he had finished college and finally moved away from home, he and Theo could be a family.

Now it looked like Martin was following through with that promise. Theo had always spoken about that idea with excitement. Except he didn't look very happy about it now. "I thought this was something you wanted," I said uncertainly.

"A year ago I would've been ecstatic," Theo replied miserably. "I could spend the school year at my brother's place and spend summers at Camp Half-Blood. But now we've got a war going on. And at the end of the summer I'm going to become the head of the Apollo cabin. I'm going to have to step up and lead. It would be difficult to do that from Indianapolis."

I frowned, feeling slightly responsible for his dilemma. After all, I was supposedly the one that would have to fight Gaius someday. Unfortunately, everyone else was getting dragged in, too. "I'm sorry," I said softly. "I know how much you've missed your brother. What did you tell him? About why you weren't going to move in with him, I mean."

"Well it was hard to explain, since he doesn't know I'm a demigod," Theo said. "I mean, he met my dad when he and mom were dating, but he just thought Apollo was another one of mom's boyfriends. Which, I guess he was, but you know what I mean. Anyway, he thinks I've been going to some kind of special boarding school for kids who don't have any place else to go. So when he told me I could move in with him, I said I didn't want to leave my friends. Which isn't a lie. I don't want to leave you or Joce or Jake or… anyone else."

"I'm sorry," I said again. "That's rough. Do you think you'll ever tell your brother the truth?"

Theo shrugged. "I don't know. He probably wouldn't believe me. And even if I thought he would… well, I don't want to scare him off. I don't really have a mom anymore. I really don't want to lose my brother, too."

I felt so bad for Theo. I'd always had a loving family. I even had a whole bunch of honorary aunts and uncles. I couldn't imagine what it must be like to be in Theo's shoes. We sat in silence for a couple of minutes. I wanted to take Theo's mind off of his brother, but I wasn't sure the idea I had was the most appropriate one. Nevertheless, I went for it. "So you mentioned Jake along with me and Jocelyn. And back at camp you guys seemed kinda close. Have you been hanging out?"

"A bit," Theo said guardedly.

"You wanted to go to the fireworks show with him," I guessed. "That's why you hoped to get back to camp by the fourth." The fireworks show was camp's biggest dating event of the summer.

Theo was definitely blushing now. Not even the low light and his skin tone could hide the redness in his cheeks. "Maybe."

I laughed slightly. "You're a dork, you know that? You realize that as the head of Hephaestus, Jake would have to oversee the fireworks show and probably wouldn't be able to go with anyone."

Theo smacked his head. "Gods, I'm a moron."

I laughed harder. "Yeah, you are. It's okay. It's one of your endearing qualities."

Theo snorted. "Oh gee, thanks Elizabeth." But the humor left his face. "Ah well, it's not like Jake would've wanted to go with me even if he could. You know, if we were gonna be there."

"Actually, I think he would've," I said. "I'm pretty sure he likes you, too."

"Really?" Theo asked.

"I think so," I said. "I mean, he hasn't outright told me, but I've noticed some signs. I really think you guys –"

Suddenly, white lights started flashing up and down the hall. A high pitched alarm began going off. Theo and I both jumped to our feet. The doors to both of our bedrooms opened. "What's going on?" Matt asked, poking his head out, his blond hair smushed on one side.

"If this is a godsdamned fire drill, I'm shooting someone," Jocelyn complained from our doorway.

"No clue what's going on," I said. "The alarm just started going off."

A bunch of Royal Demigod Corps officers dashed past us, strapping swords to their waists. Shortly behind them, Melody came running towards us. She wasn't wearing her suit jacket or tie. The top couple buttons of her white dress shirt were undone. The missing jacket revealed that she'd been wearing a pistol holster underneath. "You lot!" she shouted over the alarm as she approached. "Grab your things! We're getting you out of here. _Now_."

None of us asked questions. I hurried back into the room Jocelyn, Emily, and I were sharing. I quickly changed out of my pajama bottoms and yanked on my jeans. I threw on my leather jacket and roughly tugged on my glove. My fingers flew as I laced up my combat boots. I threw my backpack over my shoulder and grabbed Marianas. Jocelyn and Emily had gotten ready just as quickly. I strapped my sword to my waist as we stepped back out into the hall.

Melody was tapping her foot nervously, looking off down the hallway in the direction the other RDC officers had gone. The boys stepped out into the hallway at the same time as us. Melody glanced over. "Good, let's go." She turned and started briskly walking down the hall, almost at a jog.

"What's going on?" I asked as we followed her.

We rounded the corner and I got my answer simply by glancing out the windows. What I saw made my stomach leap into my throat. Several holes had been blown in the metal fence surrounding the palace. A large group of laistrygonian giants were apparently responsible. They were streaming through the gaps, tossing cannonballs as the RDC troops attacking them. One of the cannonballs exploded against one of the windows I was looking out of. The building shook. Surprisingly, the window didn't break, but it did crack.

The Royal Demigod Corps was trying to take out the monsters, but the laistrygonians were being supported by an even larger group of dracaena. And interspersed throughout army of monsters were nine soldiers wearing a combination of black combat fatigues and Celestial bronze armor. Demititans.

"How did they follow us?" Emily asked, incredulous. "We should have been impossible to track once we left the Labyrinth!"

"Maybe we're just _really_ unlucky," Jocelyn said.

One thing didn't quite add up, though. "I don't see Drake out there," I said. A guy that size should've been easy to spot, after all.

"Maybe he's hanging back," Matt suggested. "Giving them orders from afar."

Jocelyn snorted. "Did he seem like the 'lead from afar' type when we met him?"

We'd reached the staircase by the front door. We took them two at a time. At the door, Melody turned to us. "Draw your weapons." My friends and I did what she said. Melody nodded, then pushed open the door.

Outside was chaotic. Several of the RDC soldiers had set up a defensive perimeter around the door. They'd apparently pulled a bunch of sandbags from storage and used them to hastily set up barricades. They fired at the army of monsters with their automatic weapons. Flaming cannonballs shot overhead and slammed into the palace. Outside of the defensive perimeter, RDC soldiers fought with swords against the army. They were badly outnumbered. I was in dismay. I knew the demititans had a huge army of monsters at their command, but this was staggering. I'd never seen so many monsters in one place. I didn't see how the Royal Demigod Corps could hope to win. They were going to die, and it'd all be our fault.

"Here's the plan!" Melody shouted. I turned to her, completely focused. She pointed to left, where there was a row of cars. Most of them were charred husks, no doubt having been hit by flaming cannonballs. But a couple were still in one piece, including the black SUV we'd arrived in. "We're going to make a dash for the SUV!" Melody continued. "We're going to blow our way through the army and get you back to the Labyrinth!"

"What?" I said. "No, we're staying. We're going to help you fight off this army!"

"We'll be fine," Melody said. "We've got reinforcements coming in by helicopter. And besides, these guys are here for you lot. We get you out of here, and they'll leave!"

"She's right," Matt said.

I gritted my teeth. I didn't like running away, but Matt and Melody were both right. I nodded. We all tightened our grips on our weapons. One of the RDC troops nearby had been listening in. "Ma'am, we'll give you some covering fire," he said to Melody. He unsheathed the sword from his waist and passed it to Melody.

She nodded her thanks, then turned back to us. "Alright, now!"

We ran forward and leaped over the barrier. The troops began shooting monsters all around us. I swung my sword around slicing through any dracaena that got near. Theo was firing arrows (Melody had been kind enough to help him restock his quiver earlier) as he ran. Matt had switched his sword to lance mode and was charging with the point out in front of him, Jocelyn was cracking her whip at any nearby monsters. Emily had transformed into a tiger and was biting and snapping her way through the horde of monsters. Out in front, Melody was slashing with her sword using one hand and firing her pistol with the other.

We reached the car. Melody leaped in to start it. One of the laistrygonians had thrown a cannonball right at us. I spun Marianas around, transformed it into trident mode and blasted the cannonball out of the air. The explosion killed a few dracaena. The SUV roared to life. My friends and I jumped in. I ended up with the shotgun seat. Things were so crazy, that I hardly registered the fact that the passenger's seat was on the "wrong" side.

Melody floored it. We smashed through a line of dracaena. I rolled down my window and began blasting monsters with my trident. Behind me, Theo and Jocelyn had rolled down their own windows and were shooting at the enemy. The car shook and rattled as cannonballs exploded around us, but none made a direct hit.

We were getting close to one of the gaps in the gate. "Stop them!" I heard a human voice yell, no doubt one of the demititans. Monster converged on the gap. I blasted a laistrygonian to dust. The cannonball he'd been holding in his hands fell towards the ground. Jocelyn shot it. The explosion killed the last monsters in our way.

We shot through the gap in the fence, took a sharp right turn, and tore off down the London streets. Sirens wailed in the distance. The sound of chopper blades hit my ears. I looked up and saw several helicopters fly directly overhead, straight for the palace. Melody let out a deep breath next to me. "What did I tell you? Reinforcements."

"I still don't like this," I said. "Running from the fight, I mean."

"I understand," Melody said. "But this is the best choice. Trust me, it'll be fine."

"How're you guys going to explain the damage to the palace?" Emily asked. "To the mortals, I mean."

Melody shrugged. "Dunno, but we've got a guy called Marshal who does a good job of manipulating mortal perception. He'll come up with something, I'm sure."

"Too bad we don't have anything like that back in the States," I said, frowning.

"It's called the Hermes cabin," Jocelyn said dryly.

I glanced in the rearview mirror. No one was following us. We were alone, shooting through the empty streets of London. It sort of surprised me that no one was out and about, even at like two in the morning. I was from New York, the city that never slept. Apparently London actually valued its beauty sleep.

"We're getting close to Westminster Bridge, where we picked you up," Melody said. "I assume that's near your Labyrinth entrance, but where exactly do you need to go?"

"The Labyrinth entrance is underneath the London Eye," Emily said.

Melody nodded. "Alright, thanks." She was silent for a moment before she said, "Listen, clearly the demititans are worried about you lot. They're obviously afraid you're going to be successful, otherwise they wouldn't be trying so hard to stop you. You're a threat to them and whatever they're planning. So prove to them that their fears are justified. _Be_ a threat. Stop them. Some people, like Basil –"

"Who's probably going to hate us extra now," Jocelyn muttered.

"– think that the demititans are an American issue," Melody continued. "But that's not true. The demititans are a _world_ issue. If they succeed in whatever it is they're planning, it will have consequences _everywhere_ , not just in the United States. So stop them. The fate of the world may depend on it."

"But no pressure," Matt and I said simultaneously.

Melody chuckled slightly.

We were driving across Westminster Bridge now. Ahead and to the left, the London Eye was illuminated blue in the night. Our car skidded to a stop at the end of the bridge. All six of us clambered out. Melody kept a tight grip on her sword, and I understood why. Even though there were no enemies in sight, I still felt on edge. "I'll escort you to the Labyrinth entrance," Melody said. "Then I'll leave you to it."

We walked down the river-side path, buildings on our right, the Thames on our left, the massive Ferris wheel dead ahead. We were only a few yards from the service door that led to the Labyrinth entrance when a deep voice behind us said, "There you are."

We whirled around. Drake and Andromeda emerged from a gap between two of the nearby buildings. Drake looked slightly winded, like he'd just been doing something strenuous. His armor was dented in a couple of places. Andromeda's dress looked a little worse for the wear, too. I wondered how long they'd been on the surface. Maybe not long at all, in which case they'd only just gotten away from the Praying Mantis monsters. After all, even though it had been hours up here, it must've only been a few minutes in the maze.

"You've caused me a lot of trouble," Drake growled. "Submit now, or I'll be forced to bring you to Gaius… damaged. Or, more damaged than you already are." The jibe about my arm made my face heat up with anger.

"You wanna go, Drake?" I spat. "Bring it! There's six of us and only two of you. And I doubt Andromeda will be much good in a fight."

Drake laughed, pulling his huge axe from his back. "You think I can't take you all on by myself?"

"Sounds like you're a bit big headed," Jocelyn countered. "How about we deflate it a bit?"

My friends and I got ready, but Melody stuck out her arm. "I'll delay him. You lot just go. No time to waste."

"Uh, you can see how big he is, right?" I said.

"Just go," Melody repeated. Then she lunged forward with enough force that she should've run Drake through, regardless of his armor. But Drake was quick. He knocked aside her blade with his axe, sending Melody spinning. Andromeda dove out of the way of the fight. Drake raised his heavy weapon overhead to deliver a blow that probably would've sliced Melody in half the long way, but she narrowly avoided the strike.

"Let's go," Matt said. "She's buying us time so we can lose them."

"They'll just find us again anyway," I protested.

"Actually, I have an idea about that," Emily said. "But I need to get close to Andromeda," she added in a whisper.

Drake wasn't paying any attention to his companion. Melody sprung around him, constantly dodging and trying to get inside his attacks. Drake, for his part, was moving quickly, too, especially considering how large of a guy he was. Andromeda was between us and them. She was keeping a close eye on us. Clearly, she wasn't worried about us getting away, since she could just track us down again, but she obviously didn't want to get attacked. I was right in thinking she wasn't much of a fighter. She had her small knife drawn, pointed at us.

Melody's eyes flashed over to us for a split second, clearly telling us to leave. But she couldn't keep the gaze long because of Drake's non-stop assault. Emily moved towards Andromeda, her sword drawn. I tore my eyes away from Drake and Melody and approached with her.

"Stay back," the albino woman warned.

"What are you gonna do to us?" I asked derisively. Pro-tip: don't do that.

Andromeda scowled. "This." She made a motion with her hand, and suddenly all five of us were thrown against the low wall on the Thames side of the path. All around us, the stones were gone, replaced by lava. The heat made breathing difficult. My clothes started to smoke.

"It's an illusion," Emily said.

"Pretty good illusion," Theo said.

Off to our right, Melody screamed. I glanced over. Drake must've kicked her or knocked her back some other way. Melody was slumped against the river wall, her sword several feet from her. Drake was raising his axe for the killing blow. Meanwhile, the lava, illusion or not, was working its way closer. Matt and I locked eyes, and I could tell we were thinking the same thing.

We both yelled. My gut wrenched painfully, though less horribly than usual. Behind us, the Thames River exploded, surging over the barrier. The water slammed into Drake with such force that he was knocked into the building behind him and fell down, completely unconscious. The lava in front of my friends and I steamed and disappeared. Andromeda was knocked backwards and also slammed into the building behind her. She passed out cold.

And then it was over. My friends and I were miraculously dry. Melody was soaking wet, but alive. She climbed to her feet, panting. She scooped up her sword and looked over at us. "Thanks for the assist. But I told you to get out of here."

"We're going," I assured her.

Emily dashed over to Andromeda and held her hands on either side of her face. Mist shrouded the woman's face for a second, then it dissipated. Emily came back to us. "She won't be able to sense us anymore, which means they can't follow us. We're good to go."

Drake was already coming to. He yelled and staggered to his feet. Melody tightened her grip on her sword. "Last time I'm gonna say this: go!" She ran forward and went right back into battle against Drake. He had recovered incredibly quickly.

I took a step forward, but Theo grabbed my arm. "You heard her. We need to go."

"But she's gonna die!" I protested.

"You don't know that," Matt said. "But she is buying us time."

"And if we're still here when Andromeda comes to, she'll be able to re-establish a trace on us," Emily added.

I sighed, but nodded. We turned and burst through the door leading into the London Eye's basement. At the bottom of the stairs a faint blue symbol glowed. We dashed down the stairs. Matt, who was in front, touched it and part of the wall disappeared. We glanced at each other, reactivated our flashlights, then plunged back into the Labyrinth.

* * *

 **AN: See you guys on Sunday!**


	16. Chapter 16: Emily Give Me a Boost

**AN: Hey guys! I'm back again with another chapter. As always, thanks so much for your continued support! It means the world to me! Before we start the chapter, we'll do what we always do and look at some reviews.**

 **First, from RockRoy: "** **Real life illusions? Are the twins daughters of Hecate (she was a Titan before becoming a god) or did I miss something?"  
A: The lava was an illusion, but like the illusions that the best sorcerers can perform - for instance, Hecate - since Elizabeth and most of the others thought it was real, it affected them. As for the twins, I have not yet specified which Titan they're the children of. You'll find out eventually.**

 **Again, from RockRoy: "How is Hermes cabin the USA equivalent of Marshal-the-perception-guy, aren't Hecate's kids the master Mist manipulators (with their mother writing the On the Mist)?"  
A: While it is true that Hecate controls the Mist and her kids are incredibly skilled at manipulating it, in the Last Olympian, Hermes tells Percy that he usually influences the way mortals understand things through the Mist as part of his messenger god duties. Therefore, I imagine that his kids do some of that, too.**

 **From EllaAnnieGrace: "This Chapter seemed Funnier than usual. But, that's just me."  
A: If it was funnier than usual, that wasn't my intention. Though a bit more humor than I planned isn't a bad thing.**

 **And lastly, from the-only-soldier-left: "Dude, they just used the freakig Thames!"  
A: Yes they did! I was pretty excited about writing that part.**

 **Alright, that's it from me. Enjoy the chapter! DFTBA!**

* * *

Chapter 16: Emily Gives Me a Boost

We made sure to put plenty of distance between us and the London entrance before we stopped for the night. Theo made Jocelyn take another swig of Nectar, as she was complaining about her chest injury again. Matt volunteered to take first watch. The rest of us settled in to try and finish our night's worth of sleep. I was sure that I'd continue to have trouble sleeping just like in Buckingham Palace, but summoning the Thames River earlier, even with Matt's help, had taken a lot out of me. As soon as I hit the floor, my eyes closed. Unfortunately, I dreamed.

In the dream, I found myself in a large cavern, which I assumed was elsewhere in the Labyrinth, mostly because I was back in the midst of the demititan forces again. I could tell Drake's troops from the rest of them, as there were only five left and their armor was damaged. Standing off to the side were Gaius and the other commanders. Drake was kneeling in front of Gaius, who had a disgusted look on his face. Eliana stood next to him, barely hiding a look of smug satisfaction on her face. To the left, Andromeda and her twin sister stood with each other looking mildly annoyed.

"You return with five fewer troops, nothing to show for it, and you just expect me to forgive you?" Gaius growled.

"Sir, it wasn't my fault," Drake protested. "First there were these giant bug monsters –"

"Which I tried warning you about," Andromeda pointed out. "But you ignored me."

Drake shot Andromeda a nasty look, then continued, "We followed them to London. I drew them out of their hiding place and lay in waiting for Elizabeth and her companions. It was a good trap."

"It was a pathetic excuse for a trap," Eliana put in. "I mean, honestly. You sent all your troops with a legion of monsters and decided to wait for Elizabeth Jackson and her friends _by yourself_? What did you think was going to happen?"

"I don't answer to you," Drake growled.

"But you do answer to me," Gaius snapped. "Tell me, did you at least kill the interfering British woman, or did you fail at that, too?" Drake looked down at the floor. He didn't say anything else, which was answer enough. I felt a rush of relief. So Melody was still alive. At least I hadn't gotten her killed. Gaius scowled. "Eliana was right. I should not have trusted you with this assignment. You're lucky you didn't get yourself killed. Or worse, captured." That last bit struck me as harsh, even for Gaius. He'd rather his subordinates die than be captured?

"Let me go after Jackson again," Drake pleaded. "I won't fail you again."

"You keep failing me," Gaius countered. "Over and over again. How many more chances are you even worth?"

"Sir –"

"And even if I let you go after Elizabeth again, how would you even track her?" Gaius continued. "You heard what Andromeda was just saying. She cannot track them anymore."

"Then send me with Caesaria instead," Drake argued.

"I already told you," Andromeda said. "When the magician with Jackson erased their signature from my head –"

"– it also erased their signature in my head," Caesaria continued.

"Because we're linked," the twins concluded together.

"Then you should have defended yourself better," Drake protested.

"Enough excuses!" Gaius snapped. "You know that neither of the twins are fighters. _You_ should have done more to ensure their safety, Drake. You'd better hope and pray to all the Titans that Elizabeth does not beat us to Pasiphaë."

"There are other magicians of Pasiphaë's caliber," Drake suggested weakly.

Gaius laughed humorlessly. "Oh yes, let's just go ask Circe for help. The woman who turns every man she meets into a guinea pig will surely agree to help me. Or perhaps we should ask you sister Calypso for help? I'm sure she'd be willing to use her magic skills to help our cause, never mind the fact that she married one of the Seven. Or, better yet, let's ask Hazel Zhang to help us! One of the actual members of the Seven! She'll definitely aid our plans."

Drake didn't have a response to Gaius's sarcastic rant. As much as it pleased me to see the giant man humiliated – and to know that I was partially responsible for his humiliation – I was surprised he hadn't hit Gaius. He seemed like the type of guy that'd be quick to anger. Besides which, he was much larger than Gaius. Yet he just kneeled there meekly. I wondered what the son of Kronos had over Drake to make him just accept his punishment.

Gaius took a deep breath, reigning in his temper. "Unfortunately for me, I still need you. But do not fail me again or there will be severe consequences. Do you understand?"

"Yes, sir," Drake said.

"Then go clean yourself up," Gaius said. "We leave in one hour."

Drake did as he was told. After he walked away, Eliana turned to Gaius. "Why do you continue to put up with his failures?"

"He still has value," Gaius sighed. "And besides, seven is a strong number. I want to keep the council at that number."

"Then replace him," Eliana said. "You replaced Marina." Gaius's brow furrowed at the mention of Oceanus's daughter. He still seemed perturbed over her death. Eliana merely scowled slightly at the look on his face, almost like she wanted him to get over it.

"Not just anyone is council worthy," Gaius said. "And you know why it's so important that we have only the best on the council."

"I understand that Gaius," Eliana said. "But is Drake really one of 'the best'?"

"Drop it, Eliana," Gaius said. "You might be my oldest friend, but I am still in charge of the council. What I say on the matter goes."

The corners of Eliana's mouth turned into a frown. "Fine. Whatever you say."

Gaius turned away and strode over to the twins, who'd gone off a little ways and were speaking quietly together. Eliana looked after him with the same angry look on her face that I saw in the mirror every time Gus and I had a fight.

* * *

My eyes opened. The soft yellow light from Matt's lamp came from behind me. I lay still for a few minutes, thinking about the dream I'd just had. For starters, Melody was alive, which was a relief. Also, Drake was in big trouble, which was great news. And from the sounds of it, it seemed like Pasiphaë was pretty damn near essential to Gaius's plan. If we could get to her first, it might not just set him back. It might make his entire plan crumble. If we were successful in this quest, anyway.

Thinking about that reminded me of my prophecy. Could we even succeed? Not according to the prophecy. I really hoped there was some other way to read it like Chiron had said, but unfortunately the language seemed perfectly clear. And worst of all, one of my friends was going to die. No matter who it was, I'd be crushed. We'd had some close calls already. One of them was going to be too close. And I got the feeling that the end of the quest was nearing.

I tried pushing the thought out of my mind. My heart had started beating rapidly and my breathing labored. Just thinking about one of my friends dying was exacerbating my anxiety. What sort of state would I be in if it actually happened?

And why did Gaius need Pasiphaë's help, anyway? I mean, they needed her to help the twins with a spell. That much I knew. But what type of spell _exactly_? They'd needed demigod blood for it. That had been part of the motivation behind Gus's quest to rescue Alex de Marco last year. I flexed my robot hand, almost unconsciously, thinking about it. Of course, after we'd rescued Alex, Marcus had convinced Gaius to use Marina's blood. Demititan blood had the same basic qualities as demigod blood, after all. And then there was the part where they needed a third magician's help. That was the whole reason they were trying to get Pasiphaë's. The spell itself was in Hecate's _On the Mist_ spell book. Whatever spell they were trying to cast, they'd made sure to get Hecate out of the way to stop her from interfering. But despite having all of this info, I wasn't any closer to finding out what kind of spell Gaius was trying to cast. _The son of Kronos shall destroy the veil_. That was my last hint on what sort of spell the demititans were working on. But what veil? And why did Gaius want to destroy it?

In a weird way, it almost made me hope we'd run into Gaius at some point. He had a tendency to monologue. Maybe he'd tell us what he was planning to do. Even so, that was no guarantee I'd get the information I wanted. He'd been careful about keeping certain aspects of his plan secret every time we'd met.

Plus there was the fact that meeting Gaius again would probably be disastrous for me. Thinking about it wasn't giving me a panic attack right now, so today would be a good day for my anxiety, relatively speaking. Still, I doubted that I'd be able to control my emotions next time we met, regardless of how good a day I'd been having before then.

I really hated this weakness. I just could not get over my panic attacks, my feelings of pain, terror, and helplessness that came up almost every time I thought about Gaius. I'd hoped that it would get better over time, that I'd just learn to deal with it. But it wasn't getting better. If anything, it was getting worse. If Gaius and I really were fated to have some big battle in the future, I failed to see how I stood any chance. Not unless I got over my anxiety issues. And so far, that wasn't looking likely. I shook my head slightly, trying to refocus on my dream.

So Gaius had replaced Marina in his council, eh? Something about wanting to keep the council at seven members… I wondered why Gaius thought seven was such a strong number. Maybe it had something to do with my parents and the rest of the Seven. Whatever the reason, I was vaguely curious about who Gaius's new council member was. The only other demititan I knew by name that wasn't on the council was Ivan. He'd been with Gaius last year on the highway. Had he been promoted to Marina's old spot on the council?

It occurred to me, finally, that if I was going to stay awake thinking, then I should probably offer to take over watch. I rolled over and sat up. Across from me, Emily was leaning against the wall reading from a real paperback book. She glanced up when she saw me move. "Oh, hey Elizabeth," she said. "What're you doing up?"

"Had a dream," I said, scooting over towards her. "Good news, Melody survived her fight with Drake. And you were right, by the way. Whatever you did to Andromeda worked. The demititans can't track us anymore. Nice job."

Emily smiled. "Glad to hear it."

"By the way, when did you take over watch?" I asked.

Emily shrugged. "About an hour ago maybe? Hard to tell."

"Well if you want, I can take over," I offered. "I don't really feel like going back to sleep."

"I'm fine," Emily said. "I'm pretty wide awake, myself."

We sat in silence for a couple minutes. I realized that despite the fact that we were on a quest together, despite the fact that we were practically family, I still didn't know Emily all that well. Whenever we'd had Christmas parties or "family" reunions, she'd usually hung out with Riley and her sister. Matt would hang out with them occasionally, too, but for some reason I never really had. At most of those family functions I'd hung out with Sierra. Amy sometimes, too, when Adrian and Reyna were able to come. Even that one night at Camp Jupiter, when Emily had joined us for dinner, I hadn't talked to her much. I felt kinda guilty about it. Once again, I was proving myself to be a pretty poor friend.

Two years ago, on my first quest, I'd discovered that I hadn't really taken the time to get to know Theo and Jocelyn before we left. Now it was the same thing all over again. Except this was worse. Before my first quest, I'd only known Theo and Jocelyn for like… a week. Maybe a bit more. I'd known Emily most of my life, and all of hers. I was way overdue with getting to know her.

"So Emily," I started awkwardly, "you're pretty great at magic. I've never seen anyone do as much magic as you. And I haven't seen anyone else do some of the things you can."

Emily shrugged. "You must not have seen much magic, then." I hadn't. Still, I wasn't going to say that when I was trying to compliment Emily. Emily sighed. "Yeah, I guess I'm alright at magic. Mom taught me a lot and I learned some on my own. Plus having Pluto as a grandfather helps, too. But there's still a ton I don't know about magic."

"But you're obviously talented," I said. "And you'll only learn more as you get older. You should have more confidence in yourself, Emily."

Emily shrugged again, but her eyes glinted like she was pleased with the compliment. I'd noticed that a lot with her on this quest. It was like she knew in her head she was good, but she still needed to hear it from other people. It wasn't a vanity thing, I could tell. It was like part of her legitimately didn't recognize her own skills. I could sort of relate.

"So what about stuff with the dead?" I asked. "Did you get any powers like that? Can you summon a skeleton army like your uncle? Or shadow travel?"

Emily shook her head. "Mostly I can just sense things related to the dead. Spirits and that sort of thing. Sometimes I can get the dead to listen to me, but it's very rare for that to work and even then it tires me out badly. That's why I didn't try it when we were in front of Nero. And as far as shadow travel goes, I've never been able to do that either."

"What about precious metals and stones?"

"As far as I know, mom's the only one who's ever had that power," Emily said.

"But you _can_ sense spirits of the dead?" I said. "Are there any coming up soon?"

"As a matter of fact, yeah," Emily said. "I was gonna wait until morning, tell everyone at once, but there is a large group of the dead up ahead. Also, unrelated to that, I can feel a powerful source of magic coming from the same place. And not the same as Pasiphaë's signal. This is different. It's the same sort of feeling I got when we met Caesar."

"So we'll be meeting that other god Caesar mentioned," I mused. I glanced over at Matt's sleeping form. He had the Nemean Lion jean jacket draped over him like a blanket. I turned back to Emily. A new question occurred to me. I was almost afraid to ask it, but I went ahead anyway. "Are we close? To Pasiphaë, I mean?"

"We're getting pretty close," Emily said. "We should be able to reach her tomorrow. Or, you know, whatever counts as tomorrow down here."

"What about Gaius?" I asked. "Can you tell how close he is to her?"

Emily shook her head regretfully. "I just can't tell. I tried putting a trace on Andromeda when I blocked our signal, but I didn't have enough time. Drake was coming to, and I knew we needed to get out of there. If I was better, maybe I could have done it quicker…"

"Hey, stop doubting yourself," I said. "You've been doing great Emily. We couldn't do this without you. You've been fantastic, and I know that you'll continue to be fantastic."

Emily didn't say anything right away. She was quiet for a moment. When she spoke again, she decided to change the subject. "There's something I don't understand, though. Pasiphaë has a remarkable amount of control over the Labyrinth. I mean, I can _feel_ her influence all around us."

"Well she did make this maze," I pointed out. "And she's one of the most powerful sorceresses that ever lived."

"Even so, she's got too much control over the maze," Emily said. "A magical structure as large as this would be difficult to control this well even for a god. I mean, she's not just slowing down us and Gaius… I can tell that she's keeping track of everything else in the maze, too. Spirits, monsters, people that wandered down here by accident… If she was just focusing on us, we'd be dead. Even if she was focusing on both us and Gaius and nothing else, we'd be dead and so would Gaius. The only way she could possibly be controlling all of that is if she was amplifying her powers somehow."

I pinched the bridge of my nose, trying to think. The twins had said something similar in one of my dreams. But understanding magic was difficult, almost like another language. Still, I got the gist of it. Pasiphaë was augmenting her powers somehow. "I suppose we'll just have to wait and find out," I finally said.

"Yeah, guess so," Emily said.

Once again, we lapsed into silence. I could tell Emily was still thinking about Pasiphaë. She was worried. I was, too. Even if we did manage to beat Gaius to Pasiphaë, I wasn't so sure we could pull off the second part of the plan – taking the sorceress down. But at the risk of being hypocritical, I decided to distract Emily. If she continued thinking about it incessantly, it would do more harm than good.

"So are you looking forward to Hannah joining you at Camp Jupiter? I know it's still a year away, but you probably miss her. I know I missed Matt."

"Actually, Hannah's thinking about going to Camp Half-Blood," Emily said.

"Really?" I asked, surprised. "I'd thought for sure she'd go to Camp Jupiter with you."

Emily shrugged. "I don't know, I guess she wants to do something a bit different from me and mom and dad. And yeah, I'll miss her, but Riley's at Camp Jupiter so at least I've got my best friend."

"You and he are really close," I noted.

"We're not dating," Emily said flatly and preemptively, like it was a question she was used to getting and she was sick of it. "I don't like him like that and he feels the same way."

"Okay," I said quickly. "Sorry."

"No, it's fine," Emily assured me. "It's just that _everyone_ assumes we're dating or that we like each other, but honestly, we really don't. It _is_ possible for straight guys and straight girls to just be friends."

I thought about my own close guy friends. Theo was gay, and so was Jake, probably. Matt was my brother. And I was currently dating Augustus. I was friends with a few other guys, like Dan from the Hades cabin, but I wasn't particularly close with any of my other guy friends. Matt's situation with friends of the opposite sex was interesting, too. His two closest female friends were Sierra and Amy, after all. Still, Emily was probably right and Matt and I were just really bad at being platonic friends with the opposite sex.

"Now, I have a question for you," Emily said, a serious look on her face. I had a bad feeling I knew what she was about to ask. "What were those pills you took?" she asked. "And you seemed… I don't know, off. What's going on with you? Are you okay?"

I sighed. After coming so close to having a full-blown panic attack in front of her, she deserved an explanation. Matt did, too, for that matter. But I wasn't about to wake him up just to tell him. Among other things, the idea of telling Matt made me feel even worse than the idea of telling Emily. I wasn't sure why that was. Maybe it had to do with being his older sister. I didn't want my younger brother worried about me. And besides, worrying is supposed to be the older sibling's job.

I cleared my throat, steeling my nerves to explain my anxiety problems to Emily. "It's uh… been going on for a while. The pills I took earlier… they were anti-anxiety meds. When I was freaking out – that was a panic attack, or the verge of one, anyway."

"A panic attack?"

I nodded uncomfortably. "Apparently going through a traumatic experience can give you anxiety problems. And panic attacks, too."

"Sorta like PTSD," Emily said. "My dad told me about that once. Is that what you have?"

I considered it for a moment. "Maybe," I said slowly. "I'm not entirely sure. I haven't technically been formally diagnosed. But the fact is that I get panic attacks sometimes, and they can be pretty bad."

"Does anything in particular trigger them?"

"Gaius," I said, flexing my robot hand. "Gaius triggers them. Not all the time. Like, right now I'm fine. Some days I can think or talk about Gaius for hours and not get a panic attack. But other days the mere mention of his name sends me back to that highway to relive him cutting my arm off…"

Emily knit her eyebrows. "That really sucks, Elizabeth. And you're leading this quest anyway?"

"I'm not weak," I insisted, my face heating up in anger. "I can handle myself."

"I wasn't saying you were weak," Emily said calmly. "The opposite, in fact. I think you're incredibly strong. I couldn't lead a quest and manage an anxiety disorder at the same time. You're incredible."

Her words caught me by surprise. She thought I was strong? And not even _despite_ my panic attacks but _because_ of them? No one had said anything like that to me.

"You – you really think that?" I asked hesitantly.

"I do," Emily said. "I always thought you were strong, Elizabeth, but now I realize just how strong. You really are amazing."

I blinked. I was having a sudden surge of emotion again, but it wasn't a burst of anger or panic like I was used to. It was a surge of gratitude this time.

Still, I wasn't completely sold on this "being strong because of my weakness" thing. For one, I'd been trying so hard for so long to prove I was strong despite my panic attacks that I didn't know if I could just accept Emily's way of thinking about it.

"What happens next time I meet Gaius?" I asked. "I don't know if I can face him. Not without being completely debilitated by terror."

"You can do it," Emily assured me. "I know you can. And if you do get a panic attack, that's why you've got friends. We'll have your back."

I looked over at Matt, Theo, and Jocelyn. I knew all of them would have my back, no matter what. And talking with Emily, I knew she would, too. "Yeah," I said. "You're right. Thanks, Emily." Yet as soon as the words left my mouth, I realized that maybe it wasn't such a good thing that my friends would have my back. After all, according to the prophecy, one of them was going to die.

"You don't have to thank me," Emily said. "But you're welcome."

I pushed the thought of one of them dying out of my mind, trying to focus on Emily, instead. That hardly helped. She was potentially the one that would die. I remembered my silent promise to Nico. I couldn't let that happen. But I couldn't let anyone of the others die, either. What was I supposed to do? There was no stopping fate…

I reached into my bag with shaky fingers and got out my meds. I tried to play it off with Emily. "I should probably go ahead and take them now," I said, trying to hide how badly my fingers were shaking. "Just in case we do run into Gaius today." I popped the pills in my mouth. After a moment, my heart rate settled, though my fingers still shook slightly. I blinked hard, then turned back to Emily.

"Hey, listen," I said, "I have a favor to ask. Could you not tell Matt? Jocelyn and Theo know, but I want to tell Matt when I'm ready. Same with everyone else."

Emily nodded. "Of course. It's no problem."

Suddenly, I heard a faint growling. I jumped to my feet and ripped Marianas out of my sheath. "It's okay," Emily said quickly. "That wasn't a monster, it was my stomach."

I blinked at her, then burst out laughing. "Sounds like you need to eat, then."

"Whas funny?" Jocelyn muttered, sitting up groggily, her voice slurred with sleepiness.

"I heard something about food," Matt said, wide awake at the thought of a meal.

"Food," Theo repeated.

I smiled at my group of friends. "Alright guys, guess we're getting up. Gather round for some more delicious protein bars."

"Ugh," Jocelyn grumbled, rubbing sleep out of her eyes. "Those things are nasty. We totally should have brought some real food instead."

"Gods, that meal at Buckingham Palace was _so good_ ," Matt said.

"Food," Theo repeated.

"Stop your whining," I joked. "This is the last time we'll have to eat these nasty protein bars, anyway. Because we're finishing this quest today."

* * *

 **AN: Alright, we're entering the home stretch! I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter.**


	17. Chapter 17: The God of Fashion Disasters

**AN: Hey guys! I'm finally back. I just want to say again that I'm super sorry, but I want to thank you guys for your support, especially with my life being crazy recently. Before we get going with the chapter, I'll do review responses as always.**

 **First, from Loloree: "** **Your story has made me stronger! Thank you for making Elizabeth have panic attacks. I have been having them for a few months now and your story is helping me! My panic attacks are a bit worse than Elizabeth's panic attacks, but if she can live through them so can I!** **Again thank you for your story!"  
A: Thank you for sharing! I know that going through panic attacks can be hard, so I'm glad that Elizabeth has been helping you. I'm honored that my story has been able to help you.**

 **From the-only-soldier-left: "So there, Elizabeth. Stop thinking everyone assumes you're weak. Also...** **Foooooooodddddddd XD they're such guys! XD"  
A: She's getting there. And yes, haha, they are definitely guys.**

 **From EllaAnnieGrace: "So, Emily is comforting Elizabeth, and Elizabeth is seeming to think like Percy in MoA, I mean, Percy said,"I'm not as strong as you think," And if I didn't know better, I would say her fatal flaw is personal loyalty."  
A: Yeah, Elizabeth is definitely meant to have some strong similarities with Percy. And although she is very loyal, if something is going to cause her death, it wouldn't be loyalty.**

 **From cghe: "The home stretch! Yay!** **I don't know how you will put everything in four chapters now. Is the story still going to be 20 chapters?"  
A: Actually, this one will probably be 21 or 22 chapters, but we're still close to the end.**

 **Another from cghe: "Is Elizabeth somehow related to you (character development, etc)? You seem to have a pretty close relationship with your characters. Part of being an author, I guess."  
A: A lot of the characters do take aspects of my personality. Elizabeth and I are quite alike, though perhaps the character I'm most like personality-wise is Matt, weirdly enough. But yeah, it's also part of being an author. I've spent a lot of time with these characters, so I've gotten to know all of them well.**

 **And a last one from cghe: "In the True Kings Sword, when Jason escapes by blasting lightning at the door of the plane or something like that, since the plane is metal, the lightning would technically go around the plane. It's hard to explain, but similar to the fact that some people survive lightning strikes because the water conducts the electricity around your body instead of inside it. That's why your blood and organs don't get friend. At least not from the inside.** **Something about 'divine lightning' I guess. For example, Porphyrion was able to deflect a lightning strike off his spear, but metal should conduct lightning, not deter it. I just thought this was interesting; e.g. Sierra conducting lightning with a piece of metal toward the nun (Sphinx!)."  
A: Yeah, I'm aware of the phenomenon you mentioned. Faraday's Cage I think it's called. So yes, you're right. The lightning would have passed harmlessly around the outside shell of the plane. I sorta forgot about that when I was writing it to be honest. But I guess it would be an effect of the divine lightning. After all, in the actual books a couple of cars get destroyed by lightning blasts, even though they'd also have the Faraday Cage thing going on.**

 **From Liz: "Wow this is really good. I don't see how you came up with this plot and stuff. It's very well thought out and planned. Keep writing."  
A: It is very well thought out. I actually started planning this series about a year before I started posting the first story. But I'm glad you're enjoying this so much!**

 **From anthonykeaton76: "so I think I figured out what the veil is...in the books they referred to the mist as a veil but I can't figure why gaius would want it gone"  
A: Well telling you what the veil is would be spoilers, but whatever it is Gaius has a reason for doing what he's up to.**

 **The last several reviews are all in response to my author's note, so I'll just respond to all of those at once. Thank you for your understanding and support. I really appreciate it! And now I'm back, so hurrah!**

 **Anyway, here's the chapter. DFTBA!**

* * *

Chapter 17: We Meet the God of Fashion Disasters

As we ate our breakfast, I explained my dream to everyone. "So, Drake won't be chasing us anymore?" Theo asked.

"Correct," I said.

"Well that's good to hear," Jocelyn said. "I was getting sick of that guy. And we only met him twice!"

"So what next?" Matt asked. "You said we were finishing the quest today, so I assume we're close…?"

Everyone glanced at Emily, who nodded. "We are getting close. But I sense spirits up ahead. A lot of them."

"So more Zombies," Jocelyn said.

Emily shook her head. "It doesn't feel like Nero and his Romans did. These feel more… I don't know. Incorporeal, I guess. They're ghosts of some kind, I think. But besides them, there's something else. I was talking to Elizabeth, and I sense a powerful presence in the same place as the spirits. God-like powerful."

"So the other god that Caesar mentioned," Theo guessed.

"Hope you didn't get too attached to that jacket, Matt," Jocelyn teased.

Matt held a hand to his chest and faked a shaky breath. "It's gonna be hard to let it go, but I'll manage."

"Oh yeah, you're making a terrible sacrifice," I deadpanned. "Listen, if everyone's done eating, we should get going. It seems like Gaius really needs Pasiphaë for his plan. If we beat him," _We won't, the prophecy says so_ , "we could completely screw him over."

We all swallowed the last bites of our breakfast, tossed our garbage aside (we figured littering in the Labyrinth didn't really count), shouldered our bags, then set off, Emily in the lead, once again. Around us, the corridor changed to being made of stone, then mosaic like an old Roman temple.

At a corner, Emily held out a hand to stop us. "Be ready," she whispered. "The spirits are only a few yards up ahead, in a big chamber around the corner."

"What is it with spirits hanging out in big chambers?" Jocelyn wondered aloud.

The rest of us steadied ourselves, prepared for a fight if it came down to it. Then we rounded the corner. Up ahead the passageway entered into a large space lit by faint yellow light. The space seemed empty, but that was probably a trick. Sure enough, as soon as we entered the room the wall closed behind us. "Oh, that's good," Jocelyn said.

The room was rectangular rather than round like most of the previous large chambers had been. The floor was done in a mosaic. At the end of the room, there was a stone table or altar. The walls were painted with a party scene. In the center of the banquet was a man who radiated sun beams. The mosaic on the floor showed a series of panels showing different animals and warriors. On the altar there was a stone figure of a man sunk to his knees in the stone. There was something familiar about all this. I wasn't the only one who recognized the place.

"I feel like I've seen some of this before," Jocelyn said. "I think I've read about temples like this."

Suddenly ghosts shimmered to life all around us. Some of them wore robes, others togas, others still, Roman armor. _It's a very Roman maze_ , I thought. "Intruders!" one of the ghosts shouted. "Intruders to the Mithraeum!"

"Kill them!" another one of the ghosts yelled. "Before they can escape with our secrets!"

They drew transparent weapons. Jocelyn's eyes sparked like wires had connected in her head. "You guys worship Mithras, right?" she said.

The ghosts gasped. "How did you know?" one asked, apparently the leader.

"You're kidding right?" Jocelyn said, an eyebrow raised. "You just called it – you know what, never mind. You can't just kill us right away."

"And why's that?" the leader asked.

"Because we have a ranking officer in the Twelfth Legion Fulminata with us," Jocelyn said. "Matthew Jackson, Centurion of the Fifth Cohort."

She nudged Matt, who stepped forward, making sure that his Centurion badge was visible. Several of the ghosts gasped. All of them glanced at their leader, awaiting his orders. I leaned over close to Jocelyn's ear. "Why does it matter that Matt's an officer?" I whispered.

"Mithras was mostly worshiped by legionnaires," she whispered back. "They wouldn't kill an officer outright, at least not without hearing him out."

Finally, the ghosts' leader spoke. "Very well, Centurion," he said. "Explain to us why you have violated our sacred domain. Then we shall kill you."

Matt glanced back at me, a question on his face. I rolled my eyes and mouthed "jacket." Matt's mouth made an "o." He turned back to the Mithras priest. "We seek an audience with Mithras."

The priest laughed unpleasantly. "You can't just waltz in here and demand an audience with Mithras. Not unless you have something of value to give him. But seeing as you don't, we're going to have to kill you."

"But I do," Matt said quickly as the ghosts raised their swords again. He dropped his backpack and pulled off his jacket. In his hands, it turned back into the animal pelt. "The skin of the Nemean Lion," Matt explained. "An offering fit for a god as great as Mithras."

The priest looked hesitantly at the altar, which seemed to be glowing. Heat radiated out from it. Then there was a burst of light and the stone melted away. The man who'd been halfway born from it leaped free. "That _is_ an offering fit for a god as great as me! Now, Centurion Matthew Jackson, talk with me."

* * *

Mithras was odd, even for a god. His hair and beard were long and meticulously sculpted, as if still made of stone. His skin was so bronze it matched my sword. Or my robot arm. He wore bright plaid shorts. He had sandals on his feet and black, knee length socks. On top of his head was a hat shaped like an ice cream scoop, except it was made out of what was clearly aluminum foil. Perhaps worst of all, he'd apparently joined the "gods who wear Hawaiian shirts" club. Mithras's was a particularly nauseating blue one with yellow suns and palm trees. _Gods_ I hated Hawaiian shirts.

Mithras strode towards us. All of his ghostly followers backed away respectfully, still and silent. When he reached us, his beard moved like he was smiling, though it was hard to tell with all of the facial hair. Matt handed him the Nemean Lion skin. Mithras pulled it on over his Hawaiian shirt, leaving it in its natural form. The resulting fashion disaster actually made me gag. "Excellent!" Mithras exclaimed. "It matches my shirt perfectly!"

Theo coughed.

"Yes, it certainly does," Emily said quickly. "Among your many accomplishments and talents is your excellent fashion sense!"

"Thank you!" Mithras said. "I did not know modern Romans still worshiped me, but it is certainly nice to see a girl with such excellent taste in gods. And fashion!"

I gagged a little again. I was remembering more about Mithras with each second. He was not originally a Roman god at all, and he'd never been worshipped by the Greeks. Rather, he'd originally been a Persian god. After Rome had conquered Persia, Mithras's cult became popular throughout the empire. Especially among legionnaires, according to Jocelyn. His cult was very secretive, with multiple levels of membership. That's what the mosaic on the floor with the different animals and warriors meant. Once, under Rome, Mom had stumbled into a temple like this and beaten Mithras's followers by _guessing_ about all of their rituals. Oh, and destroying the temple with a well-aimed knife throw.

Unfortunately, none of the scant references I'd seen to him in any of my reading had mentioned how he'd looked. And Mom hadn't actually met Mithras. I'd have to warn everyone how gaudy the god's clothing choices were.

"So, you have provided me a magnificent gift," Mithras said. "Which means you must want something."

"All we ask is passage through here to the part of the Labyrinth beyond your temple," Matt said.

Mithras laughed. "That is what you ask? Surely you jest. You must mean that you wish to enter my cult. Or perhaps you'd like me to design new wardrobes for each of you. Or you'd like to leave here the way you came without my having to kill you."

"Uh, why exactly would you want to kill us for leaving?" Theo asked.

"Well I can't have the secrets of my cult leaving this place," Mithras said, like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Uh, maybe that's why modern Romans don't worship you so much," I pointed out. "And also why your largest temple is in the Labyrinth with a bunch of ghosts. Just a thought."

Mithras raised his eyebrows. "That sounded dangerously like impertinence, girl."

"Me? Impertinent? Never!" I said sarcastically, unable to help myself. Jocelyn punched me in the shoulder to shut me up.

"As you may well know," Mithras said, "information is dangerous in the wrong hands. I cannot allow the Illuminati to discover my secrets."

I opened my mouth to make a comment about that, but Jocelyn punched me in the shoulder again. "You are very wise," Emily said. "The er… Illuminati are a uh… very serious threat."

Mithras nodded, pleased. "I'm glad you, at least, speak sense. Perhaps you'll tell your friends that trying to move beyond here is nonsense."

"Unfortunately, oh wise one," Emily said, "we must move on."

"Then I'm afraid I must deny your request," Mithras said regretfully.

"Why?" Matt asked. "I mean, we gave you such a lovely jacket…"

"And it is a wonderful offering," Mithras agreed. "But I'm afraid that it is no indication that you are worthy to continue forward. The part of the Labyrinth past here is home to the maze's creator, and she is treacherous indeed. If I am to allow you to move forward, you must first prove yourself."

My eye twitched. I felt like screaming in frustration. Theo and Jocelyn both shot me warning looks. I didn't say anything, but my stomach boiled with anger. I was tired of completing tests and trials so that gods would consider me "worthy" of even the most minor help. I'd been forced to do it over and over again, especially on my first quest. I really didn't feel like doing another test for another god. But I also didn't feel like getting myself and my friends incinerated. My comments earlier had annoyed Mithras enough at me. Any more and we were toast. Or at least I was.

"What must we do to prove ourselves worthy?" Emily asked, her voice thick with flattery. "Whatever the task, wise and powerful Mithras, you can count on us to complete it."

Mithras seemed to consider this for a moment. "You know, one of my many heroic feats was defeating a great bull. A sacred bull, in fact. And here in the Labyrinth, there is another great bull. A monster who once called this maze home and now calls it home once more."

Jocelyn made a choking sound. I looked at her, alarmed. Her face was deathly pale. Her hands were shaking badly. I shared a bewildered look with Theo. I wanted to ask Jocelyn what was wrong, but now was not the time. Something had shaken her, though. "Th-the Minotaur?" Jocelyn stammered, her southern accent acting up like it did when she got worked up.

"That's right," Mithras said. "You have met the Minotaur before?" Jocelyn didn't answer, but she really wasn't looking good. Mithras nodded, her silence answer enough. "Here is the deal. You heroes slay the Minotaur and bring me his horn. If you succeed, I will allow you to proceed past my temple." He fished a small piece of metal from his pocket and tossed it to Emily. "This medallion will lead you to the Minotaur. Best of luck, heroes."

The room seemed to spin, then the chamber was empty. The only doorway was the one we'd entered through. Jocelyn stood still, shaking. It looked like she might puke, but she didn't. I was almost tempted to pass her some of my anti-anxiety meds, but I figured she wouldn't thank me for drawing attention to whatever was going on with her and giving away prescription medicine is a big no-no.

"So," I said to Emily, "any chance we can just go around and get to Pasiphaë without completing Mithras's dumb test?"

Emily shook her head. "We have to go through this temple. Maybe I could find another way to Pasiphaë, but it wouldn't be quick."

I scowled. I thought about asking whether we could find a door to the surface, get back to Camp Half-Blood, grab the Minotaur horn from my cabin, then come back and give it to Mithras. But I had no idea how long that would take. Granted, even if we were on the surface for days, that might only be hours in the Labyrinth, but I didn't want to waste any more time than we had to. Besides, Mithras would probably be able to tell whether the horn was fresh or not.

I sighed, sent Jocelyn an "I'm sorry" look I wasn't sure she saw, then said, "Well I guess we're going hunting for the Minotaur. Emily, you have the medallion. Lead the way."

* * *

Thankfully, Emily informed us that it wouldn't be long until we reached the Minotaur. The less time wasted the better. Jocelyn stayed absolutely silent, her facial expression modulating between anger, fear, and a profound sadness. I was worried about her. She'd definitely encountered the Minotaur before, but because she'd never opened up about her past to… well, anyone, I didn't know exactly what their encounter had been like, nor how I could help my friend. I could surmise, though, that their previous encounter had been one of the worst experiences of her life.

Theo kept looking over at Jocelyn in concern, too. Matt and Emily could obviously tell something was wrong. We all stayed pretty quiet.

"Bad news," Emily finally said. "According to the medallion, we're close. But, well… I'm sensing _another_ large group of the dead up ahead."

"Oh good, more dead people," Matt said. "We've had such a good experience with them on this quest."

"We're close, though?" I repeated.

Emily nodded. "Yeah. Should only be a few more minutes. What I'm curious about is why a bunch of Underworld escapees are hanging out with the Minotaur. And that is what these guys are, not like the spirits worshipping Mithras."

"Well," I said, looking down the dark corridor, "we'll find out soon enough."

Sure enough, after about ten more minutes, we came to an opening leading to another large chamber. Seriously, it was like large chambers were a dime a dozen in the Labyrinth. I could hear chatter, laughter, even some music in the room. In front of the opening, two Telkhines stood guard. This was the closest I'd ever been to them in real life. They were larger than I'd realized. In their flipper-like hands they each held a long pike. Their faces were canine. Their sleek fur, tails, and flipper feet reminded me of a seal or sea lion. They growled, bearing pointed fangs and lowering their pikes.

"Halt," one of them growled. "What business do you have here?"

"We're looking for the Minotaur," I said calmly. "Is he in?"

"What's it to you?" the other Telkhine barked. "No one is allowed entry without the express consent of our master."

"Right," I said slowly. "See, here's the thing. There are five of us, all armed with Celestial bronze or Imperial gold weaponry. There's two of you. How lucky do you guys feel?"

The Telkhines shifted uncomfortably. "We'll take you to see the boss," the first one finally said.

"That's what I thought," I said smugly.

The space that the Telkhines led us into was another rectangular chamber, except this one reminded me of Jabba's palace from _Star Wars_. Tables were scattered throughout the room around which Underworld escapees, Lemures, and assorted monsters – mostly Telkhines – lounged, chatting with each other and drinking out of mismatched glasses. At the far end of the room, there was a raised dais. A throne had been constructed on that dais made out of junk food boxes. Brownies, Twinkies, sugary cereals, candy – basically, if you can think of it, the throne had it. Sitting on the throne was a man in a grimy orange jumpsuit who laughed like a maniac as he stuffed food constantly into his mouth. His grey hair was uneven and hung lankly around his face. He was extremely thin, despite the massive amounts of food he was shoveling into his face. Just visible over the pocket of his jumpsuit was a tag that read 0001. Standing around him on the dais were four more Telkhines.

As the Telkhines led the way to the crazy jumpsuit guy, I wondered where the Minotaur was. Maybe Mithras had given us a faulty medallion. Then we broke through the crowd into an empty space before the dais. The floor here was made of metal grating rather than stone. Through the gaps in the grating, I could see him. The Minotaur.

From the waist down, the monster was just a normal guy. But above the waist was a whole different issue. His top half was covered in coarse black fur and rippled with muscles. His meaty arms ended in massive hands that any baseball player would've been jealous of. His head was so huge I wondered how he didn't topple over from the top-weight. Huge horns, sharpened to a deadly point, stuck out on either side of his head. Littered around the floor of his pit were bones. He sniffed, his nose dripping mucus, then looked in our direction and gave a roar of hatred. Unfortunately, I was pretty sure that hatred was directed at me and Matt. We probably smelled like Dad, and Dad had sent beef cakes down there to Tartarus more than once.

When he roared, Jocelyn came to a dead stop. I didn't think it was possible for her to get any paler, but sure enough, she managed it. Theo gently laid an arm around her shoulders and kept her moving.

Jumpsuit guy had ceased his eating and was now looking over at us intently, a sour look on his face. If I hadn't already guessed that the guy had a few screws loose, the look in his eyes would've convinced me. He looked absolutely crazy. And not in the, "ha ha, he's so crazy!" sort of way but in the, "he could murder his whole family and not lose a wink of sleep" sort of way. "Why have you brought me these five demigods?" jumpsuit guy asked the Telkhines.

Great. Another person who couldn't tell half-bloods and legacies apart.

"Sir, they demanded an audience with you," the first Telkhine said uncomfortably. "They threatened us with magic weapons."

Jumpsuit smacked his forehead. "You're guards! What's the point of having you if you've got no backbone? Throw these two in!"

"But sir –" the second Telkhine protested, but it was too late. In a split second, the crowd was on their feet. They ripped the weapons from the Telkhines' hands, opened up the floor grating, and tossed them in with the Rancor... er, Minotaur. Sorry, it was a lot like _Star Wars_. At any rate, the Telkhines didn't stand a chance. The Minotaur went to work, and in only a couple of seconds, both Telkhines were dead.

After it was over, the crowd turned to us, no doubt ready to throw us in, too. My friends and I all drew our weapons, except for Jocelyn, who was still frozen in place. "Easy now," jumpsuit called. "As annoyed as I was that those two morons brought these heroes before me, now that they _are_ here, I will listen to what they have to say."

The crowd backed off, returning to their tables, though they continued to glare at us. I lowered my sword, but kept it out, and stepped forward. "Thanks," I said. "My name's Elizabeth Jackson. My friends and I are on a quest –"

"Jackson you said?" jumpsuit asked, a little too casually. "You wouldn't happen to be related to _Percy_ Jackson, would you?"

I decided that lying was probably a good idea. "No. Don't know who you're talking about. In fairness, Jackson is a very common last name."

Jumpsuit glared at me suspiciously, but he didn't call my bluff. "Very well, then," he said. "My name is Tantalus, and as long as you behave, you are welcome to stay here."

* * *

 **AN: Aaaaaaaaaaand I'll see you guys on Sunday!**


	18. Chapter 18: Jocelyn Has Beef

**AN: Hey guys! Back again with the next chapter. As always, I want to thank everyone for your continued support. You guys are the reason I keep telling this story. We're getting ever closer to the end. In fact, we should be able to get the book done before the end of April (which, between you and me, is good for the end of the school year and whatnot). But I'll update you guys on all of that when we actually get there. For now, you're here for the next chapter. First though, time for some review responses.**

 **First, from cghe: "** **Awesome! I wonder what will happen next :). You have a very annoying knack of sending heroes on roundabout trips to achieve very little things.** **That kind of makes me want to scream in frustration :)"  
A: It makes Elizabeth want to scream, too, haha. And don't worry, everything I do has a purpose.**

 **Next, from EllaAnnieGrace: "Oh my flippin' gods! TANTALUS! I hate you so son SO much!"  
A: And this sort of reaction is the reason I did it :)**

 **Three from the-only-soldier-left: "1. How in Hades did he get his grubby hands on food"  
A: Curse weakens the longer he's out of the Underworld. We saw that in Sea of Monsters, too.  
"2. I think he watched Return of the Jedi and loved it so much, he based his evil lair off it... Is Han hanging on the back wall?"  
A: Haha, maybe he did. Return of the Jedi is a great movie, so I really couldn't blame him. Maybe Tantalus keeps a replica of Han frozen in carbonite somewhere.  
"3. Nice to see the Minotaur again, with his top half of All-Natural USDA Approved Beef (sarcasm)"  
A: Ah, yes, always good to see Beef Head. Although, to be completely honest, he's actually one of my favorite monsters in Percy Jackson.**

 **From N: "#jocebeth2016"  
A: That is a fantastic ship name.**

 **And last but not least, from Unicute17: "AHHHHHHHHH! Is her fight with the minotaur going to parallel to Percy's"  
A: You're about to find out.**

 **Alright, that's enough from me. On to the chapter. And DFTBA!**

* * *

Chapter 18: Jocelyn Has Beef with the Minotaur

"Tantalus?" Emily choked out. Clearly she recognized the name. Unfortunately, so did I.

Tantalus was from the Fields of Punishment, which is probably how Emily knew who he was. He was one of the worst characters from the old stories. At one point he'd been on very good terms with the gods. Such good terms, in fact, that he'd joined them for parties on Mount Olympus. On one such occasion, he'd attempted to steal Nectar and Ambrosia. The gods caught him and banned him from Olympus. He'd become a laughing stock, especially among his own children. Later, he invited the gods over for dinner. He'd wanted to show there were no hard feelings. He served them a stew – made from his own children. As a result, he'd ended up in the Fields of Punishment, forced to stand in a pool of water beneath a fruit-bearing tree unable to eat or drink for all eternity.

A few millennia later, during my dad's second summer at Camp Half-Blood, Tantalus had been temporarily pardoned to replace Chiron as the camp's activities director. It hadn't lasted very long. Chiron had been reinstated, and Tantalus had been sent back to Hades. Yet, here he was. Obviously, he'd gotten out of the Underworld again, no doubt during the war with Gaea. Strange, though. I'd've thought that if such a high profile Fields of Punishment inmate got out, we'd have already known about it.

Tantalus had already continued munching on his snacks, but he was still watching us, waiting to see what we had to say. I didn't get right into it. Instead, I said, "I thought you were cursed so you couldn't eat?"

Tantalus laughed and swallowed his food. "I have been free from the Underworld for so long that the curse has worn off. The Earth Mother let me out before her untimely defeat, so I've been free to my meals for more than twenty-five years." He stuffed an entire cupcake in his mouth and added, "Ad cuz I'b eab I damp ed at."

"What?"

He swallowed. "And because I'm dead, I can't get fat."

"How come we didn't know you were free of the Underworld before now?" Matt asked. "Not trying to be rude or anything," he added quickly. "I was just curious. You're pretty famous, after all."

"Well that's exactly why you haven't heard of it," he said. "Why would that fool Hades admit that one of his most famous inmates had escaped? It would make him seem weak. So of course he wouldn't say anything. I was very high profile. And I've had the good sense to stay in hiding down here and not draw attention to myself." He shoved another whole cupcake in his mouth.

I felt vaguely nauseous. Tantalus was a weirdo, and definitely a creep, but hopefully we'd be able to get out of here without having to fight all of his cronies, so long as we remained polite. Of course, the problem was that me and polite didn't always play well together. I cleared my throat awkwardly. "Right, well, I can see you're keeping the Minotaur as a pet." The Minotaur roared up at me again.

"And?" Tantalus asked impatiently.

"Well," I said slowly, "I mentioned earlier that we were on a quest. In order to continue, we have to do something for the god Mithras. He wants us to kill the Minotaur. I don't suppose you're getting tired of your pet…?"

Tantalus laughed. "You expect me to just let you kill the Minotaur?"

"Well we certainly hoped," Matt muttered.

"The Minotaur is how I punish those that I don't like and those that disobey or disappoint me," Tantalus said. "Especially when heroes such as yourself are disrespectful. I see no reason to give that up. After all, watching the Minotaur tear my foes apart is the best entertainment I have down here."

 _Oh great, another lunatic who likes watching people get killed_ , I thought. _First Nero, now him_.

The look in Matt's eyes told me that he was thinking the exact same thing. In fact, I could see that he was about to try the same thing with Tantalus that he did with Nero: strike a deal. "So you like watching the Minotaur kill, right? What if you got to watch it tear us apart?"

"You want to be thrown in there to die?" Tantalus asked skeptically.

"Well, no, of course not," Matt continued. "But if we get thrown in there to die, you get the entertainment value. If we don't die, I only ask that you let us leave here in peace."

"Now where's the fun in that?" Tantalus asked. "The five of you together will surely beat my pet."

"Then don't throw us in all together," I said. "One at a time. Increases the chances that the Minotaur will win, right? And you'll probably get to see several rounds of violence instead of just one big one. _If_ one of us wins, though, then the rest of us get to leave."

Tantalus hesitated. He liked the idea of so much blood and gore. He didn't want to risk losing the Minotaur, though. "One more condition. No weapons. Each of you faces the Minotaur weaponless, just like everyone else I throw down there."

Matt and I glanced at each other. Now it was our turn to hesitate. I'd hoped that I could just go down first and shoot the Minotaur with Marianas before he even got close. That was the whole point of suggesting the one at a time thing in the first place.

"Alternatively," Tantalus said, "I could just order everyone here to attack you right now."

Then again, I could still beat the Minotaur without Marianas. My sword/trident wasn't the only Celestial bronze I had on me. "You've got a deal," I said.

"Excellent!" Tantalus exclaimed. He grinned like the Grinch when he first figured out how to steal Christmas. "You have two minutes to decide who's going down there first and say your goodbyes."

* * *

We huddled together in a corner. "He's going to betray us," Theo said. "Even if one of us wins, he's not letting us leave without a fight."

"No shit," I said. "But it's easier to take the Minotaur out now while we're all still fresh than wait until after we fight all of Tantalus's goons."

"So which of us will go down?" Emily asked. "I can do it. I'll turn into a lion or something for the fight."

Matt shook his head. "No, this deal was my suggestion. I should do it."

"Don't be stupid," I cut in. " _I'm_ the one that suggested we go one at a time. I did it so that none of the rest of you would have to risk your lives. I'm the quest leader. I'm the one who has to go down there. Besides, even without a weapon, I've got a pretty good chance. My hand is Celestial bronze, remember? I stand a better chance weaponless than any of you. Maybe being a one-armed freak will pay off for once."

"Would you stop complaining about your arm?" It took me a second to realize that it had been Jocelyn who snapped that. She still hadn't said a word. Until now, that is. Her eyes were rimmed with red. "You know, Elizabeth, some people have lost a lot worse than an arm. And unlike you, not all of us can get back what we lost!" Her voice wavered as she spoke, her southern accent thick as molasses. I gaped at her, too stunned to say anything. "I'm facing the Minotaur," Jocelyn said firmly. "He and I have some unfinished business."

I wanted to protest. The line from my prophecy was thundering inside my skull. _At the end a friend will die_. But before I could recover from my shock, Tantalus called, "Time's up!"

Jocelyn handed her gun and whip to Theo, then turned and strode towards Tantalus. "I'm the one going in."

One of Tantalus's Telkhine guards opened the floor grating and Jocelyn jumped in. The rest of us dashed forward and stared down through the floor grating as the daughter of Hermes faced off with the Minotaur.

"Do you remember me you son of a bitch?" Jocelyn yelled.

The Minotaur grunted and turned. He lowered his head and charged. Jocelyn didn't move. I thought, for a moment, that she'd frozen up. So did the crowd. They cheered, shouting for blood. At the last second, Jocelyn rolled out of the way. The Minotaur barreled past and slammed into the wall. It staggered around, dazed. The crowd booed.

Neither of these things phased Jocelyn. She dashed over to a pile of bones and picked up a long, straight, thick one. A femur, maybe. The Minotaur stamped his feet in frustration, then wheeled to face Jocelyn. Once again, he charged her. This time, his hands were outstretched to catch Jocelyn if she tried to roll aside. But Jocelyn had no such plan. As soon as the monster was close enough, she swung the bone upwards. It hit the Minotaur's head with such force that the bone shattered, splintering into a million tiny pieces. The Minotaur was thrown of course. Jocelyn ducked around his outstretched arms.

Once again, the Minotaur slammed into the wall. The crowd groaned and booed. Tantalus started yelling, "No, no! Kill her! Kill her!"

The Minotaur was still dazed from hitting the wall the second time, especially after getting pegged in the face with a femur bone. Jocelyn circled around, keeping behind his back. When the Minotaur's back was to the wall, Jocelyn leaped up against the wall, pushed off, and landed on the Minotaur's back, locking her arms around one of his horns. The Minotaur roared and grunted, staggering even worse, doing his best to shake Jocelyn off. If I remembered correctly, Dad had done something similar when he faced the Minotaur for the first time.

Jocelyn didn't fall off. In fact, when the Minotaur had staggered around so that I could see Jocelyn's face, she had a look of mingled determination and hatred. When the opportunity arose, Jocelyn gripped the Minotaur's horn more tightly and actually stood up on the monster's back. She pulled back on the horn, her locked legs giving her extra leverage. The horn snapped. Jocelyn flew off the monster's back into a backflip and landed on her feet.

The Minotaur had let out a roar of pain. Tantalus's scream of rage was almost as loud. The crowd seemed nervous, anxiously muttering to itself. The Minotaur finally wheeled towards Jocelyn. I couldn't see his face from where I was standing, but I imagined he was glaring at Jocelyn with absolute hatred.

"You wanna finish this beef boy?!" Jocelyn shouted, louder than anyone. "After all these years, are you ready to finish this?!"

He roared in response, then charged. Jocelyn ran at him. The crowd tensed, sensing the fight was nearly over. Emily breathed in sharply next to me. Theo grabbed my hand. Only a few feet from her much larger opponent, Jocelyn hit her knees. She slid forward, thrusting the jagged Minotaur horn out in front of her. The monster ran straight into the jagged piece of bone. It embedded itself up to Jocelyn's hand in his gut. Jocelyn screamed. I thought she was hurt, but it was something else entirely. She stood up, pushing the dying Minotaur up into the air on his own horn. I was completely in shock. Since when had Jocelyn been that strong?

The Minotaur burst apart, his glittery monster dust falling all over Jocelyn, who was panting. And, I noticed, crying.

"No!" Tantalus screamed. "This is unacceptable! Kill all of them!"

"Oh, there's a surprise," Matt said sarcastically. The mob of monsters, ghosts, and dead people closed in, and my friends and I jumped into action.

* * *

It was sort of incredible how cohesive a team we'd all become in such a short amount of time. My sword flew out of its sheath, cutting a horizontal arc through the air and instantly vaporizing the first two Telkhines to reach us. To my left, Matt had his own sword out and was hacking and stabbing zombies. To my right, Emily had transformed into a lioness and was currently ripping anything that came near her to shreds. Behind me, Theo stabbed one zombie with an arrow, then notched it and fired it at a Telkhine.

"We've gotta get Jocelyn out of that pit," I shouted. "She's an easy target down there. Theo, get over to the part that opens and lower her whip down to her. Matt, Emily, cover him."

"What are you gonna do?" Theo asked.

"Take out Tantalus."

I sidestepped a sword strike, then stabbed the offending Telkhine and burst free of the circle of monsters surrounding us. I dashed towards the dais that Tantalus was using as his throne platform. Tantalus ducked behind his boxes of snack foods. His four Telkhine guards ran at me, pikes lowered. I switched to trident mode as I rolled away. I blasted one of them to dust. The other three whirled around. One jabbed at me with his spear, but I caught the point between my trident's prongs and twisted, splintering the spear's shaft.

Unfortunately, that left me open on my flank. The other two Telkhines jabbed at me from the left. I knew I wouldn't be able to get my weapon around to block both strikes. Luckily, I didn't have to. There was a crack of gunfire and one of the two attacking Telkhines burst apart. I spun around, my weapon switching back to sword form as I did so, and blocked the second pike. Another crack of gunfire and the Telkhine was dead.

"Thanks, Joce," I called to my friend. Indeed, Jocelyn was out of the pit, her pistol in one hand, the Minotaur's horn still in the other. She nodded a "you're welcome" at me, then turned and stabbed a nearby zombie.

The Telkhine whose weapon I'd snapped had wisely backed away from me. Lazily, I switched back to trident mode and blasted him. He burst apart. Finally, I turned back towards Tantalus's throne. I could see him cowering behind it. I blasted the throne with my trident. Boxes of junk food went flying, some charred, some actually on fire. Tantalus was thrown up against the wall.

I walked forward leisurely, unconcerned about his lackies, all of whom that remained were focused on my friends. "You sir," I said to Tantalus, "are an ugly, evil slime ball who needs to be _put down_."

"Please!" Tantalus screamed. "I'm too young to die!"

I put on my best "are you freaking kidding me?" look. "You already died. Thousands of years ago."

"That's not the point!" Tantalus wailed.

I rolled my eyes. "Also, I lied before. I am related to Percy Jackson. I'm his daughter."

Tantalus scowled. He drew a knife, sprung to his feet, and lunged at me. It didn't do him any good. I parried the attack, then stabbed him in the gut. Tantalus dissolved. I turned to help my friends, but there wasn't anything to do. Almost all the enemies were now piles of dust on the floor. Emily gripped the last zombie with her lion fangs and tossed him into the air. Theo shot him with an arrow. It was over.

I moved back over to my friends. They looked winded, but alright. Jocelyn's jaw was clenched tightly, a stoic look on her face. I wanted to talk to her about what had just happened, but it wasn't time. Not yet. I sheathed Marianas. "Let's go back to Mithras and give him what he wants so we can get this quest over."

* * *

Mithras was just as gaudy as ever when we made it back to him. He grinned when he saw us. "My friends!" he exclaimed. "Good to see you again! Did you bring me a bull horn?"

"Yeah, we did," I said.

"I killed the damn Minotaur," Jocelyn said. "And you've got some nerve –"

Theo clamped a hand over her mouth. Gently, I pulled the Minotaur horn out of her hand and passed it to Mithras. I sympathized with her. For one, she was obviously very upset. For another, being pissed off at a god was something I understood very well. In fact, I was usually the one yelling at them. But right now, I was more level-headed than my best friend, which was definitely a rarity.

"Here you go, Lord Mithras," I said. "As requested."

Mithras examined the Minotaur horn closely for a couple of minutes. "This is truly a magnificent horn from a magnificent bull! You have shown yourselves worthy, and may proceed forward. Best of luck with the sorceress, heroes." And then he and his ghost friends were gone. Behind where he'd been standing, a new door had opened up.

"That was a gigantic waste of time," Matt growled. "I mean, that's it?"

I was feeling the same way, but I needed to keep my emotions in check for Jocelyn's sake. She still wasn't looking good. "Let's just keep moving," I said evenly. "Emily, do the honors?"

Emily nodded and led the way forward. "Good news," she said. "We're extremely close. We'll be there in just a couple of minutes."

I had conflicting feelings about that. On the one hand, I wanted to get this quest over with. On the other, I didn't want to face Pasiphaë with Jocelyn still in her emotional funk. Nevertheless, we forged ahead. Once again, we were silent. Jocelyn, in particular, didn't make any noise. I was developing an idea as to what had happened, why the Minotaur was so painful for her. But I didn't want to say anything about it unless Jocelyn brought it up. I knew what it was like to hide things. I'd been keeping my prophecy to myself this whole time, after all. I just hoped that Jocelyn would be able to put whatever it was on the back burner when we reached Pasiphaë's chamber.

Up ahead, the tunnel started to get brighter. There was a faint yellow light, like flickering flames. Sure enough, after a few more yards, the passage had changed. It shifted to being made of marble. On the walls hung torches burning with yellow flames that had no smoke. The marble hall stretched in front of us. The ceiling got higher as we continued forwards.

"This is it," Emily said quietly.

Up ahead, the passage came to a halt at a massive stone door engraved with all sorts of symbols. In a few places, precious gems had been embedded in the door. We approached cautiously. I let out a deep breath. "We're here." I felt like my chest was expanding. This was it. Beyond these doors was our final destination. I was nervous. This was the end of the quest, which meant that soon we'd find out exactly what my prophecy meant. I didn't think it could be anything good.

Emily placed her hand against the door. "It's sealed with magic. We can't just open it."

"But you can break the seal?" Matt asked.

Emily nodded. "I think so, but it's very… it's intricate. Very powerful magic. It will take me some time to get the door open."

My chest deflated. "How long? By your best guess?"

Emily frowned. "I don't know, Elizabeth. A half hour at the very least. But it could take much longer than that."

I sighed. "Get to work, then. The sooner we get through, the better."

* * *

 **AN: What history does Jocelyn have with the Minotaur you ask? Well for once, I'll give you a teaser for the next chapter: you will find out exactly what history next time.**


	19. Chapter 19: Jocelyn Opens Up Her Past

**AN: Hey guys! Welcome back! As always, a HUGE thank you to everyone for your support. The school year's starting to wind down, so things'll be getting crazy for me, but your support is what makes setting aside the time to work on this worth it! Now, are you guys ready to FINALLY learn about Jocelyn's past? I know I would be. But first, it's time to do some review responses.**

 **First, from cghe: "** **Yet another chapter where you don't give when you post it, which is normally bad news. Good news: only 12 more days in April, so one chapter more every 3-4 days."  
A: Oops, sorry. I meant to tell you guys when I'd be posting this one. Guess I forgot to. But yeah, there's not a whole lot of April left, so you should definitely expect updates pretty regularly.**

 **Again, from cghe: "Excited to find out about Jocelyn's past! (I read the one-shot you wrote about her, and I really liked Jocelyn style. However, it seemed kind of similar to Elizabeth. Do your characters rub off each other? What about Theo's moronity?"  
A: Glad you're excited! As for the similarity in their two styles, there are a couple of reasons for that. 1) The two of them were sort of similar to begin with. That's part of what makes them such good friends. 2) Yeah, they do kind of rub off on each other. I've noticed the same thing happens irl, too. At least to me and my friends. We rub off on each other, so that happens to a certain extent in my stories, too.  
As for Theo's moronity, well... there's no easy cure to being oblivious, lol. Though he is certainly asking fewer stupid questions than he did back in book 1.**

 **From the-only-soldier-left: "I'm begging you! Don't kill Jocelyn! Kill one of Gaius's friends instead! Come on, prophecy! Do what Chiron said! THE TENSION IS UNBEARABLE!"  
A: The tension won't be resolved just yet, haha. But if you're tense, then that means I'm doing my job right, so... yay me!**

 **From EllaAnnieGrace: "* scowls * The Jackson's are the ones supposed to have 'beef' w/ 'Beef boy'."  
A: Haha, sorry about that.**

 **Another from EllaAnnieGrace: "And I can't wait for the final battle, but I also want it to never come... mixed feelings much."  
A: Given Elizabeth's prophecy, I can't blame you for having mixed feelings.**

 **One last one from EllaAnnieGrace: "I'm getting a vibe saying that Gauis loved Mariana, and how do you pronounce his name?"  
A: Gaius might have loved Marina. Honestly, I don't know if I'll ever get the chance in the series to really talk about the relationship Gaius has/had with each of the others in his demititan council. I've definitely thought that out, though. If I don't address it by series' end, I might do a "filling in the gaps" thing in the Elizabeth Jackson One-Shots.  
Also, his name is pronounced Guy-Us or Guy-Iss. Personally, I pronounce it Guy-Us.**

 **From AnamariaJovel: "It's her mother isn't it? I know, I know, spoilers... But that's totally where I think this is coming from."  
A: You are about to find out!**

 **Another from Anamaria Jovel: "They're about to meet the Sorceress OMG! I cannot wait, but at the same time I can totally wait as long as it takes because I don't wanna see someone die!"  
A: Seems like there are several others in the same boat as you!**

 **And finally, from N: "a small lovers spat jocebeth2016"  
A: Haha, you're really sticking by this ship, huh?**

 **Alright, that's all the review responses this time. Enjoy the chapter, and DFTBA!**

* * *

Chapter 19: Jocelyn Opens Up Her Past and Emily Opens Up a Door

After a couple of minutes, I noticed that Jocelyn was grimacing and clutching her side as she leaned up against the wall across from me. I turned to Theo who was standing next to me and discreetly nodded over to my best friend. Theo glanced over and nodded. He went over to Jocelyn. "You okay?" he asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Jocelyn grunted.

Theo rolled his eyes. "Yeah right. Lift up your shirt."

Matt, who was standing in the middle of the hall suddenly said, "I'll uh… keep watch down this way." He turned around and walked a couple of yards down the hall.

Meanwhile, Jocelyn slid down the wall and pulled up her shirt. The bandages around her chest wound (from the Nemean Lion) had come undone. The skin had healed, but it was red and raw. Theo placed a hand on the area and Jocelyn winced. "Looks like you may have made your injury worse again," he said. "At least internally. Next time, don't do something stupid like lifting the freaking Minotaur into the air."

"Usually doing something stupid is your job," Jocelyn quipped. "Or Elizabeth's. But I'm supposed to be the smart one."

"Hey!" I protested. "Who's the granddaughter of Athena here?"

Jocelyn rolled her eyes. "Fine, but I'm _at least_ the one with the most common sense. Honestly, you two are hopeless."

I couldn't argue with that. It was good to hear Jocelyn making sarcastic and snide remarks again. Still, I was worried about her. Her eyes were rimmed in red, and when she wasn't speaking, her jaw was clenched. I didn't want to push it, but Jocelyn was obviously still in a great deal of emotional turmoil. I glanced over at Emily, who was continuing to work on the magic seals on the door. She was muttering words in a strange language. She seemed entirely focused on her work. And Matt was keeping his attention down the hall. If there was ever a time Jocelyn might open up, it'd be now. I walked across the passageway and sat down in front of her and Theo. Theo was rebandaging her side.

She frowned at me when I sat down. "Hey," she said quietly, "I'm sorry for snapping at you back there at Tantalus's place. I wasn't really upset at you, and I know you've been going through a lot recently."

"It's okay," I said. "I get it. You don't have to apologize. I could tell you were… shaken. And listen, you don't need to talk about it if you don't want to, but… Well, Theo and I are here for you. And if you _want_ to tell us about… whatever was going on with the Minotaur, maybe it would make you feel better?"

Jocelyn took a deep breath. Theo stopped what he was doing, waiting to see what she'd say. Finally, Jocelyn spoke, "Yo, medicine man. Keep working."

"Oh, right," Theo said quickly, and resumed his application of new bandages. He pinned the end. Jocelyn pulled her shirt back down. Then Theo handed Jocelyn a square of Ambrosia. Jocelyn took her time chewing it.

After she swallowed, she said, "Look, it's a long story. I don't know how much time we've got…"

I looked over at Emily, who was intensely concentrated on the door. "Emily said it would take her a while to get through. And I'm no expert on magic, but it doesn't look like she's close to getting through. So if you really want to tell the story, don't worry about time. If you don't that's fine. I know you don't like talking about this sort of thing. But like I said, maybe getting it off your chest would help you feel better."

Jocelyn snorted humorlessly. "I don't know that anything will make me feel _better_. But… maybe it's time. I've known both of you for a while and if I'm going to tell anyone… well, it should be you guys." She let out a slow breath, steeling herself. "I suppose I should start by telling you about my parents. You know my dad, of course. But this story has more to do with my mom. Mom and Hermes met… well, on the job, I guess you'd say." She paused.

"Sorry I'm rambling," Jocelyn said after a moment.

"It's okay," I said. "Take your time."

Jocelyn took a shaky breath and resumed her story. "My mom's name was Madeline Clement. I don't know if you guys ever watched NASCAR or whatever, but a long time ago her dad was a famous NASCAR driver. He's still brought up by commentators, actually. The sort of driver rookies should aspire to be, I guess. Anyway, he taught her a lot about driving from a very young age. Unfortunately, my grandparents – Mom's parents – died when she was still in high school. Unfortunately, despite the fact he was famous, my grandfather didn't leave behind any money. Mom didn't have any other family, and didn't really have any options. So to survive, she started stealing.

"At first it was just basic necessities – food, toiletries, clothes, that sort of thing. But eventually she fell in with some more serious criminals. I don't exactly know how they met, but I think it had to do something with a car, because these criminals were really impressed with Mom's driving. So shortly after she turned seventeen, Mom was involved in her first bank robbery."

My eyebrows shot up. Stealing the necessities to survive – that was one thing. I understood that. But robbing a bank? That seemed excessive to me. I didn't say anything, though. I was worried that if I did, Jocelyn would clamp up and stop talking.

"She was just the getaway driver," Jocelyn said quickly. "She never killed anyone or anything. But apparently it was the greatest thrill of her life. She got a huge adrenaline rush out of it, I guess. It's also how she caught the attention of Hermes. He's, you know, the god of thieves. And although my mom was young, she'd already proven herself a more than capable thief.

"So about a month after her first bank heist, a new criminal outfit approached her with work. Hermes was behind it, obviously. I guess there were others besides Hermes there, and I don't know who they were. I'm not sure it matters, though. But anyway, Hermes wanted a chance to get close to my mother. She helped Hermes and his crew rob a few more banks, still being the getaway driver. I uh… I don't know if she actually fell in love with him, but after a few weeks they… you know, hooked up. And that's how I happened."

"Your mom was still seventeen when this happened?" I asked.

A guarded expression jumped to Jocelyn's face. "Yeah. So?"

"Nothing," I said quickly. "Just… trying to establish a timeline in my head." Privately, I was both amazed and creeped out. I was amazed because Jocelyn's mom had only been two years older than I was now when she'd gotten pregnant. I couldn't imagine going through that. I found it creepy, though, because Hermes, a several-millennia-old god, had hooked up with a minor. But I kept both thoughts to myself. I'd gotten too close to making Jocelyn stop her story.

"Did your mom know?" Theo asked. "That Hermes was a god?"

Jocelyn shook her head. "She was mortal and couldn't see through the Mist. And Hermes never told her. After Mom found out she was pregnant, she took the money she'd earned from the bank heists and moved to the country. She bought a big piece of land in South Carolina and settled down. Her shares from the heists were enough to live comfortably for a few years so she could raise me. But she loved her life of crime. She'd gotten addicted. When I was… I don't know, about two or three, I guess, she got back into bank robbery. She used to go on these long 'business trips.' That's what she'd call them. She'd leave me with a babysitter while she was away.

"By the time I was seven, she'd earned enough of a reputation to start her own criminal outfit," Jocelyn continued. "That's also when she first started teaching me how to drive. She wanted me to know 'just in case,' she said."

"How did you see over the wheel?" Theo asked.

"Yeah," I said with a smirk, "you're barely tall enough to do that now."

"Ha ha," Jocelyn said dryly. "To answer your question, she used to make me sit on books. We'd tie shoe boxes to my feet so I could reach the pedals. And since she'd learned how to drive from her dad and was a getaway driver by profession, she really knew her stuff. That's why I'm such a good driver." I nodded. It made sense. The details were lining up with what she'd told me a couple years ago about how she knew how to drive. There were some differences, but that wasn't all that surprising. When she'd first told me about that, I'd figured she was lying or leaving out things, anyway.

"At any rate, things started getting dicey around the time I turned nine," Jocelyn continued. "Criminal investigations about some of the robberies Mom had been involved in were starting to get close to her. We moved away from South Carolina and went to Baltimore. Mom laid low. She tried to get a legitimate job for a little while, but nowhere would hire her. She'd never finished high school, after all. And she refused to get a fast food job. It was too risky to go back to a life of crime just then. Not after the close call back in South Carolina. She didn't want to go to jail. She knew if she did, she'd lose me. She… she might not have lived a super honest life, but she really loved me.

"Luckily, she had enough money still that she really didn't _need_ to work, but she also figured it would raise suspicion if she wasn't at least _trying_ to get… something. So, unable to get a real job without education, she went back and got her GED. Then she enrolled at the Community College of Baltimore County. She was working hard in classes. It seemed like she'd finally kicked her crime addiction. She was getting set to earn an honest living. But then…"

"The Minotaur," I said, my voice barely a whisper.

Jocelyn nodded, starting to tear up. "I'd been noticing monsters for several years, of course. Mom always thought I just had an overactive imagination every time I told her about it. I knew better, but the monsters never really bothered us, so I never really pushed it. I don't know why they never bothered us. Maybe I just didn't have a strong enough scent yet or maybe they always had better things to do. But one night… I don't know if the Minotaur was in the neighborhood or if someone had sent him after me specifically, but he attacked our house. Mom thought it was one of her old partners in crime. A few of them held grudges, I guess. She… she sent me out the window to the car and then…" Jocelyn bit her lip, trying hard not to break down.

"I get it," I said softly. "You don't have to keep going."

Theo, Jocelyn, and I sat together in silence for a few minutes. Theo broke the silence. "How did you find out? About your mom being a bank robber, I mean. Did she tell you?"

"Some of it," Jocelyn said. "Just after we moved to Baltimore. The rest I found out by piecing together stuff I found online."

"It… that must have been really awful," I said. "I – I can't imagine what that must've been like. And I can't imagine holding onto something like that all on your own. Why didn't you ever tell us this before?"

"Because I try to focus on the present," Jocelyn said. "I have to. If I think about my past all the time, I'll be an emotional wreck. The only way I know how to handle it is to keep moving and try not to think about it… about her."

I thought about that, and I thought about what I'd said – about holding onto something like that all alone. I realized I was being hypocritical. I was doing the exact same thing. I had been trying to mask my anxiety and panic attacks for months. Right now I was keeping the prophecy I'd gotten about this very quest to myself. And it looked like this quest was about to end, which meant we were about to walk into our own defeat. One of my friends wasn't going to make it. My chest constricted just thinking about it. Surely, though, they had a right to know what we were getting into, right?

Before I could work up the courage to say something, Jocelyn poked Theo hard in the chest. I realized he'd made to hug her. "No you don't, Theodore. If you hug me, you'll make me actually cry. And if you make me cry, I'm gonna have to beat you up."

Theo scowled. "Theodore?"

I chuckled weakly. The opportunity to say something about the prophecy had passed. I just couldn't work myself up to it. I would just have to do everything in my power to prevent anyone from dying, even if it meant that _I_ would have to die.

"Let's talk about something else," Jocelyn said abruptly. "You guys have heard my story, and to be honest, I'm kinda glad you have. But let's move on. Because I ain't about to sit here wallowing in my own worst memories."

Even though she'd said it like a joke, I could tell by the look in her eyes (and the presence of her southern accent) that she really needed to get her mind off of her mother. "Alright," I said. "What do you want to talk about?"

Jocelyn pretended to think. She tapped her finger to her chin. "I got it!" she mock-exclaimed. "Let's talk about your love-life, Lizzie!"

I groaned. "Why is everyone so freaking interested in that? And stop calling me Lizzie!"

Jocelyn stuck her tongue out at me, then said, "Keep your pants on, I'm just following up on the conversation we had a while ago. I just want to know if you've thought at all about what I said. Are you and Augustus fighting because you're in love, or is the relationship just not working out?"

Theo looked at me keenly. I hesitated. "I… I have thought about what you said. I don't… I don't think I'm in love."

Jocelyn nodded sagely. "I'm not surprised. It's hard to be happy with someone when you're not happy on your own," she added pointedly. I didn't even try to argue. Because she was right. I definitely wasn't happy.

I nodded. "I know what I need to do. It's gonna suck, but… well, I know what needs to happen."

Before Jocelyn or Theo could say anything else, Matt called loudly from where he stood, "Uh, guys? I think we might have a problem."

We stood and looked down the corridor. In the distance, just outside of the lit area, I could see several shapes moving towards us. I turned towards Emily, who was still working furiously at the door. "Emily, if you can say something without breaking the spell, tell me: do you know how much longer it will take to open the door?"

Emily shrugged, then held up the number five with her left hand while still chanting in the strange language of magic.

"Five?" I asked. "Five minutes?"

Once again, Emily shrugged, then flashed a five twice with her hand. Ten. Five or ten minutes, maybe. "Okay," I said to her. "Keep trying to break open that door. No matter what. Understand?" Emily nodded. I turned back to the others. "Alright guys, get ready," I said. "We should be fine, but I don't want to take any chances here." Matt and I drew our swords. Theo readied his bow. Jocelyn cocked her pistol and uncoiled her whip.

Finally, the figures moved more into the light and I got a good look at them. They looked like dead bodies, with grey, translucent skin. They wore full Greek armor and carried swords. There were ten of them. I relaxed a little. Sure, they looked kinda intimidating, but they didn't look like anything my friends and I couldn't handle. They moved towards us silently, their weapons held in attack position. I decided that we would strike first.

"Now!" I barked.

Jocelyn fired her gun, nailing one of the enemies in the middle of the forehead. He fell to the ground. Theo's arrow lodged itself in another one of the creatures' necks. Matt and I dashed forward and each sliced one of the creatures in half long ways. Of course, that's when shit hit the fan.

The creature Jocelyn had shot picked itself off the ground and slashed at me. I lunged sideways, avoiding the attack. The guy Theo had nailed with his arrow yanked the arrow from his neck and tossed it aside. The two that Matt and I had sliced in half literally pulled themselves back together. "Oh come on!" I yelled.

"What the Hades?" Theo asked.

" _Di immortales_ , they must be spartoi," Jocelyn cursed. "Invincible skeleton warriors." Just great. Exactly what we needed. Invincible skeleton warriors.

The spartoi surged forward. Matt and I hacked, slashed, and stabbed, but the spartoi kept pulling themselves back together. We kept falling back. Jocelyn and Theo fired at the monsters. The spartoi got jolted with each hit, but quickly recovered and kept coming forwards. I ducked under a slash which would've beheaded me, then kicked the offending monster, sending him tumbling into a couple of his friends. Matt beheaded one of them, then stabbed the same one through the heart. The skeletal warrior was unfazed. He brought her sword up in a blow that would've cleaved Matt in two, but Matt yanked his sword free of the monster's chest just in time and blocked the strike.

Behind us, Theo and Jocelyn had retreated all the way back to the door, still firing at the spartoi. Emily was chanting faster. Some of the precious gems in the door had started to glow. We were close, but I wasn't sure how much longer we could hold off the monsters. I felt a dull pain in my right arm. I glanced around. In my momentary distraction, one of the spartoi had slashed my robot arm. The leather of my jacket and glove was ripped. The monster's sword had gotten stuck in a groove between metal plates.

"Nice try," I said. I switched Marianas to my left hand and slammed the pommel into the spartoi's head. He fell backwards, yanking his sword free of my right arm as he did so. Some sparks flew from the spot, but otherwise my robot hand seemed okay.

We continued to fight wildly. Matt and I whirled our swords around, slicing down spartoi. Theo fired arrow after arrow. Jocelyn shot spartoi until she ran out of bullets, then cracked her whip and began lashing the monsters. But as fast as we beat them down, the spartoi just got back up and kept attacking. Matt and I had been pushed back to within a yard of the door. Theo put away his bow and drew his knife. We formed a tight half-circle around Emily. Emily's chanting had gotten even faster.

"This is bad, sis," Matt said next to me.

The spartoi were crowded around us. We were all fighting like demons, but it was only a matter of time before they wore us down and killed us.

"I got it!" Emily shouted. Suddenly, the doors behind us cracked open. My friends and I turned and dove through. Emily waved her hand and the door magically swung shut. One of the spartoi had tried to get through, but only his hand had made it. The door sliced his hand off as it closed. We all panted. Exhausted, but alive.

Then, behind us, farther into the room, a voice spoke up that sent chills down my spine. "Well, well, it's about time you showed up." I turned so quickly I nearly got whiplash. It was Gaius.

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 **AN: Aaaaaaaaaaaaand I'll see you guys with the next chapter on Friday!**


	20. Chapter 20: It's Not Over Yet

**AN: Hey guys! We're getting ever closer to the end! Only two more chapters after this one! Exciting! I'm even getting excited and nervous for it, and I already know how it ends. That's because your guys' support has been off the chain, so thank you all so much for that! But before we get into the action, let's do review responses, as always.**

 **First, from RockRoy: "** **Totally liked Jocelyn's backstory :) And you're pure evil, leaving us with a cliffhanger like that... "  
A: Glad you liked her backstory! And, I am well aware that I'm pure evil. It's just so much fun!**

 **Next, from Unicute: "OOOOOO CREEPY! DON'T MAKE US WAIT (starts gasping) THE AGONY AHHH"  
A: THE SUSPENSE! We're nearly there! After this chapter, you only have to wait until Sunday for the next one.**

 **From the-only-soldier-left: "Noooooooooooooo! HE GOT THERE FIRST! How the Hades?!"  
A: I know! Frustrating, isn't it? Unfortunately, Gaius doesn't explain how he beat them, but he figured out a way.**

 **From EllaAnnieGrace: "Oh my now I want know her granddad's (not godly, of course) name!"  
A: I made him up. He's not based on any irl NASCAR driver. But his name was Joseph "Joey" Clement.  
**

 **From cghe: "Is it just me, or is Jocelyn kind of stupid? What's the point of wasting bullets on something invincible?** **Also, have you considered what kind of gun she uses? Handgun? Semi-Automatic? Maybe MG-42? I know you maintain that she uses a revolver, but that is OLD.** **Come on Jocelyn, get yourself an assault rifle. Or, maybe a mega-watt auto targeting laser tower, assuming the future has stuff like that."  
A: I'm not sure it was _stupid_ of her, really. The bullets did knock the spartoi back. And she was under a lot of pressure, so she probably wasn't thinking completely clearly. As for what kind of gun she uses - I don't know if I specifically addressed it here in Magician's Maze, but in the one-shot I have about her, I believe I mention that she switched over to using a handgun with a clip. She wouldn't want to switch to anything larger because that would restrict her movement.**

 **Lastly, also from cghe: "Also, your demigods need to stock up on Leo-Nets to catch these spartoi :)"  
A: That would certainly be helpful, haha.**

 **Alright guys. Without further ado, here's the chapter. DFTBA!**

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Chapter 20: It's Not Over Yet

"Honestly, I was beginning to wonder if you were ever going to show up," Gaius continued. I looked around the room, sizing everyone and everything up. Pasiphaë's chamber was a large, rectangular room. Throughout the room, there were tables covered in vials, large cauldrons, a few book cases, and a bunch of other things having to do with magic. Up above, the ceiling was vaulted, and a chandelier lit with multicolored flames provided the room's lighting. Smack dab in the center of the room was a huge circular table, but I couldn't see what was on it from over by the door.

On either side of the table, Gaius's squad of demititans fanned out. The rank and file soldiers looked a little worse for the wear. Their armor was damaged and dirty. But there were still fifteen of them, and they all had their weapons at the ready. The members of Gaius's council stood in front of the table. On the left were Andromeda and her twin sister Caesaria. They looked at me in interest. Their twin sets of red eyes were quite off-putting. On the right, Drake and Eliana stood glaring at me, their stares mirror images of hatred. Drake was no doubt still upset about his humiliation. Eliana, of course, had made it her mission to kill me. Yet neither of their stares of hatred was as disconcerting as the two figures standing in the middle of the line, right in front of the center table.

One of them was definitely Pasiphaë. The sorceress was tall and beautiful in a timeless way, like a statue. She wore a sleeveless white dress and a thick necklace inlaid with blood red rubies. It might have been my imagination, but I was pretty sure the rubies were glowing. Pasiphaë's hair was dark as obsidian and was piled atop her head like a cone. The intricate hairdo was encircled with hoops of precious metals. Gems had been placed in her hair, too, and they twinkled. Her dark eyes shone with absolute malice as she gazed at my friends and I. She almost radiated power.

And of course, there was Gaius. His sandy blond hair must've been combed recently, because it lay flat on top of his head. His golden eyes gleamed with triumph. I remembered that he hadn't been expecting me and my friends to follow him into the Labyrinth. Beating us to Pasiphaë must have been a great victory for him. He'd rolled up the sleeves of his white dress shirt, and his khakis were wrinkled now, but otherwise he looked no worse for the wear. Around his waist hung a sword, perhaps the same one he'd taken my arm off with. My stomach twisted with apprehension. My heart started beating even more rapidly. My lungs stopped being able to inhale a full load of air. My head didn't spin, though, and imaginary scenarios didn't start playing themselves out in my head. Probably because I couldn't imagine anything worse than the reality of facing Gaius again. I couldn't move. I couldn't open my mouth to speak. It was all over.

"Nothing to say, Elizabeth?" Gaius asked. "No smart aleck remark?" I swallowed slightly, trying to find my voice. Gaius just went on. "Goodness me, Elizabeth. You look pale. Are you frightened? Have words finally failed you? You know, I must say that I expected more."

"Why don't you put a sock in it?" Jocelyn spat.

Gaius shifted his attention away from me. "Ah, hello again Jocelyn, Theo. It's been a while since I saw the two of you. How've you been?"

"Oh, go to Tartarus," Jocelyn snapped.

"A bit touchy are we?" Gaius said. "And let's see… you two that I haven't met yet… you must be Matthew Jackson and Emily Zhang, correct?" Neither of them said anything, but only hefted their swords. Gaius laughed. "You all have got spunk, I'll give you that. But your manners could definitely use some work. Speaking of manners, I don't believe you're acquainted with all of my compatriots. You've, of course, met Drake and Andromeda. Next to Andromeda is Caesaria, her twin sister. The two of them are daughters of the Titan Leto. Apollo and Artemis's mother, you know. They're incredibly skilled at magic and have quite the gift of prophecy." Neither Caesaria or Andromeda made any indication they'd just heard Gaius introduce them, but merely continued staring at me. It surprised me that they were children of Leto. As far as I knew, Leto was one of the good Titans. But I guess a good Titan could still have bad children.

"And then there's my top lieutenant, Eliana, daughter of Hyperion," Gaius went on.

Eliana sneered. "Elizabeth Jackson. What a… _pleasure_ to finally meet you."

I still couldn't find my voice, and even if I'd been able to, I didn't have anything to say to Eliana. Somewhere in my head, it registered that I finally had the answer to the question of whether Marcus outranked Eliana or the other way around.

"And of course, the wonderful host of our time here in the Labyrinth," Gaius went on, "Pasiphaë herself."

"So," the sorceress growled, "you're the successors to the seven _heroes_ of Olympus." Her eyes fixed on Emily. "And _you_ , of course, must be the daughter of Hazel Levesque. I cannot tell you how long I've waited for my chance to exact my vengeance on your mother. And what better way to do so than by destroying her daughter?" Pasiphaë's eyes glowed and Emily fell to her knees, clutching her head.

I unfroze. "NO!" I shouted. I slammed my thumb on the trident button. I fired a blast at the sorceress. Eliana reacted quickly. She jumped in front of Pasiphaë and deflected the blast off of her sword. Meanwhile, Drake charged forward, his axe whirling through the air.

"Enough!" Gaius yelled, his voice echoing throughout the room. He thrust out his hands. My friends and I were thrown backwards. Drake fell backwards onto his butt and was yanked back towards Gaius. Pasiphaë staggered slightly, her eyes no longer glowing.

I groaned as I pulled myself back to my feet. _What was_ that _?_ I wondered. I glanced over at Emily, who seemed fine. She was sweaty, but it seemed like Pasiphaë's attack had been lifted.

"I will not allow this meeting to dissolve into chaos," Gaius said. "Pasiphaë, do you want to leave this place or not?"

"What I _want_ is revenge on Hazel Levesque," she growled. "And you promised me that."

"And you will get it," Gaius said, each word clipped. "But for now, control your murderous temperament." Surprisingly, Pasiphaë didn't lay a curse on Gaius for talking to her like that.

"Why do you even care about our lives?" Jocelyn asked. "You outnumber and overpower us. Why not just hold us down and execute us?"

Gaius gave her a tight smile. "Oh, trust me, Miss Clement, there will come a day when you and the rest of your friends are in my crosshairs. But I'm not going to take you out execution style. I don't know if Elizabeth could handle that."

My heartbeat thundered in my head. " _What_? What did you just say?" I asked.

"Come now, Elizabeth," Gaius said. "Have I ever put you through more than you could handle?"

"What's that supposed to mean?" I snapped. "You chopped off my freaking arm!"

"Yes, and now you have a fancy new one," Gaius countered. "And I'd imagine you've been practicing with your sword more. Probably you've even learned how to fight with your left hand. Losing your arm has made you stronger. Everything I've put you through has been to make you stronger, Elizabeth. Two years ago, when you defeated Dr. Thorn, I saw in you a great deal of raw talent. But you needed to be refined. Tempered. You're getting close, but you aren't quite there yet."

I saw red. Everything I'd been through… it had just been Gaius testing me? I was so angry, I couldn't think. I yelled and dashed forward. Gaius flicked his hand lazily and I went tumbling backwards. "But if I were to straight up execute your friends now?" Gaius continued as if I hadn't just run at him. "Well that'll do you more harm than good. If your friends die, it has to be natural. Part of combat, perhaps. You'll go through a grief period, but in the end it will only strengthen your resolve."

I wanted to charge at him again, but Theo and Jocelyn grabbed my arms and held me back. "You're not gonna get anywhere doing that," Theo whispered.

"Yeah, let's just let Gaius keep talking," Jocelyn added.

I was still furious, but they were right. The longer Gaius talked, the more we might be able to find out about his plan. And the more time I had to put together a plan of my own to get us out of this mess. If I could even start thinking at all, that is.

Meanwhile, Emily asked, "Why would you want to make Elizabeth stronger? She's your enemy. It doesn't make any sense to make her a more dangerous opponent."

I noticed Eliana look down when Emily said that. I knew from some of my dreams that she and Marcus, at least, and maybe some of the other demititans, had been wondering the same thing. "Simply put, Miss Zhang," Gaius said, "Elizabeth and I have a battle in the relatively near future. It is fate. I could be like most subjects of prophecies and try to prevent our fated battle from ever happening, but there's no point. That never works. No, I accept what this prophecy says. If Elizabeth and I are destined to fight, then we will fight as _equals_."

"That's idiotic," Matt said. "Why would you want that? Why would you want to fight as equals? Wouldn't it be easier if you weren't?"

"I have my reasons for wanting to fight as equals," Gaius said. "But my grand plan is beyond you simple little mind right now. I don't expect you to understand it, so I won't even bother just yet." He turned his eyes back to me. "But when our final battle finally arrives, Elizabeth, I hope you, at least, will understand my plan."

"It would help if you told me the supposed prophecy about us," I said coolly. "You want me to understand your grand plan? Tell me the prophecy."

Gaius laughed. "Nice try, Elizabeth. You'll figure out the prophecy and everything else when the time comes. But anyway, that's enough chatting, eh? My friends and I have business to attend to on the surface. So I'm afraid this is where we say goodbye."

"Hang on," I said. "That's it? What was the point of staying here? You could have left before my friends and I even arrived. And why do you need Pasiphaë's help? What spell are you trying to cast?"

"Nice try, Elizabeth," Gaius said. "But I want that to be a surprise. As for why we stayed… well, it has been a while since I last saw you. I wanted to see your skill and determination –"

"I'm calling bull," Jocelyn interrupted. "You stayed behind so you could gloat. But you made a mistake, dumbass. How do you expect to get out of here? Are you planning to just waltz right past us? You're not worried we're going to try and stop you?"

"Oh, goodness, no," Gaius said. "You won't be able to stop us. You'll be too busy fighting the monsters you left right outside the door. Spartoi, I believe. Is that correct, Pasiphaë?"

"Yes," Pasiphaë replied. "There are ten of them right outside. And there's a secret backdoor that only I can open for our escape."

Gaius clapped his hands together. "Excellent! Well then, we must bid you all adieu. Elizabeth, it was a pleasure as always. Good luck with the spartoi." He nodded to Pasiphaë. Between us and them, a wall of flames erupted into existence. Behind my friends and I, the door opened and the spartoi charged into the room. I whirled around and threw up my sword quickly to block a strike. I glanced over my shoulder. The flames were gone, and so were the demititans and Pasiphaë.

But I didn't have any chance to focus on that. I was too busy spinning my sword around, blocking strike after strike. My friends and I fell back towards the center of the room. Next to me, Emily transformed into a lion and ripped three of the spartoi to shreds. They knit themselves back together and counter attacked. Matt jumped in the way and blocked their strikes. On my other side, Jocelyn was expertly cracking her whip, lashing out at the spartoi and disarming some of them. Theo had leaped up onto one of Pasiphaë's tables and was shooting arrows at the spartoi, knocking them back but obviously doing no real damage. He was running out of arrows fast.

I blocked blow after blow and hacked limbs off of spartoi indiscriminately, but it didn't do any good. They would just pull themselves back together. Before long, we'd be overwhelmed. How did Gaius expect us to get out of this? He _said_ he didn't want me dead, but I failed to see how I was supposed to survive a squad of invincible warriors. I dodged between two sword strikes, then leaped up on a table behind me. I kicked a couple of vials containing potions at the monsters. The potion steamed against the monsters' armor, but didn't do anything else. I leaped over their heads, whapping one of them with the flat of my blade as I did.

From across the room, I saw a couple of the spartoi slam into Emily the lion's side. She hit one of the bookcases hard and morphed back into a human, dazed. One of the spartoi raised his sword up to kill her. I was too far away to do anything. My lungs contracted. My head spun. Everything seemed to move in slow motion. The skeletal warrior's sword plummeted towards Emily. Emily turned her head, seeing the sword plunging towards her. It was too late to block the attack. Emily ripped her sword free and plunged it through the warrior's stomach. The monster burst into flame and dissolved into ash. His sword clattered harmlessly to the ground.

Time returned to normal speed. I whirled around just in time to block one of the spartoi's swords. "Guys!" Emily shouted. "I can kill them when I'm in human form!" It must've been because she was descended from Pluto. I was relieved she was alive, but I didn't have a chance to focus on that.

I pushed back hard against the three spartoi focused on me, sending them stumbling backwards. "Great!" I shouted. "Everyone, form up around Emily! Draw them over to her!"

That was easier said than done. The spartoi weren't dumb. They'd isolated each of us. A couple of them stayed close enough to Emily to keep her from getting over to the rest of us, but remained just outside of the reach of her sword. We needed to force the issue. It was all well and good that Emily could kill them, but there were still nine of the monsters and only one of her. I felt a spark in my brain. I had a plan.

"Emily, use your magic to teleport the rest of us over to you!" I yelled.

A loud snap reverberated unnaturally through the room, and suddenly we all found ourselves standing over by Emily. It surprised the two spartoi that had been blocking Emily so much, that Matt and I were able to push them over. Emily stabbed them and finished them off. The rest of the spartoi stayed away, hesitant to attack. I took stock of my friends. Everyone seemed more or less alright. Sure, a few scrapes and bruises, but okay. Theo notched his last arrow in preparation.

"They'll have to come to us if they want to kill us," I said quietly. "When they do, knock them down so Emily can finish them off. The priority is to keep Emily safe so she can kill them. Everyone ready?"

My friends nodded. Then we turned and waited for the spartoi. Just when I thought they weren't going to attack, they charged. Jocelyn's whip shot past my face. The end coiled itself around one of the spartoi's ankles. She yanked hard, pulling it to the ground and towards us. Emily moved between us and stabbed it. Matt and I stepped forward and blocked attacks two of the spartoi had made at Emily's sides. Emily ducked around Matt and beheaded the one he'd blocked. I traded sword blows with mine, then Emily moved around and killed that one, too. Jocelyn yanked another one to the ground with her whip. And Emily promptly stabbed that one, too. One of the remaining spartoi tried to attack her side, but Matt and I lashed out and broke the monster into three parts. Emily stabbed one of the parts and all three went up in flames. One of the spartoi was nearly on top of me. Theo's last arrow collided with its arm just in time. His attack missed, and Emily killed him too. There was only one spartoi left. He wasn't attacking. Which was fine. Jocelyn threw her whip like a lasso. Emily moved over and finished him off. It was over.

We stood silent for a moment as the dust settled. Theo let out a deep breath. "We did it," he said in relief.

I had the opposite reaction. "No," I said miserably. "We've failed. Gaius got away." My voice broke. I wasn't sure whether I was angry or bitter or sad or… what.

"Maybe we haven't failed," Emily said. She was standing next to the big table in the center of the room. I hadn't been able to get a good luck at it up until now, but I noticed that the table was actually a model maze. "Remember how I told you that Pasiphaë had to be amplifying her powers somehow? Well this is it. This is how. She would pour her powers into this model of the maze and control the real thing. If I can use it, I should be able to redirect the demititans to Mount Tamalpais where –"

"Thalia's waiting!" I exclaimed.

"Right," Emily said. "And I should even be able to get you guys there first, too. I'll just have to stay here and use this table to do it."

"That sounds too good to be true," Jocelyn mused.

"I'm with Joce on this one," Matt said. "There's gotta be a catch."

Emily knit her eyebrows together. "Well… see, Pasiphaë's a lot more powerful than me. She could control the maze very effectively, even when her attention was split between us, the demititans, the hundreds of Underworld escapees down here, and the monsters. If I'm going to pull off what I'm suggesting… well, I'd have to ignore everything but you guys and the demititans. Which means that monsters and Underworld escapees would actually be able to navigate the maze."

"And then they'd be able to get to you," I said grimly. "No, that's too dangerous. I don't want you to get overrun by monsters."

"This is the best shot we have," Emily argued. "You told me last night that I should believe in myself more. Well I know I can do this."

"You _can_ do it," I agreed. "You're definitely capable. But that's not what I'm worried about. If monsters and nasty spirits are gonna be able to roam the Labyrinth freely, that leaves you vulnerable. I'm not leaving you undefended."

"Then don't," Matt said. "We'll split up. I'll stay here with Emily, defend her if any monsters make it through. Meanwhile you three go ahead so you can tell Thalia and Hylla what to expect."

I hesitated. I really didn't like the idea of splitting up. And the part of my prophecy saying someone would die still hadn't come true. What if this was why? What if splitting up and leaving Matt and Emily to fend for themselves got one of them killed? Or worse, both of them? I looked over at Theo and Jocelyn. Theo seemed concerned, too, but he nodded. Jocelyn met my eyes. "It's the best plan, Elizabeth."

I sighed and turned back to Matt and Emily. "Alright, let's do this." I hugged Emily. "You got this," I told her.

"So do you," she whispered before I pulled away.

Theo hugged Emily, too. Meanwhile, Jocelyn nodded to Matt. "Good luck, little Jackson."

"Little Jackson? Really?" Matt demanded. Jocelyn laughed.

I turned to Matt and hugged him, too. "Good luck," I said. Then added quietly, "Keep yourself in one piece, alright?"

"I will," he assured me. "It's gonna be fine." After we separated, he added, "If all goes well, the war will end today." Thinking about my prophecy, I was pretty sure that wasn't going to happen. Still, we had to try.

"I'm going to try and space your arrival at Mount Tamalpais and Gaius's so that they'll be about an hour apart on the surface," Emily said. "Your path is going to be a single straightaway. No turns, no forks, just keep going straight. When you get to a dead end, you've made it to the Tamalpais entrance. One of you will be able to open the door."

I nodded my thanks, then turned back to Theo and Jocelyn, who looked as determined as I'd ever seen them. "Let's go."

We crossed the room quickly. Just before we left Pasiphaë's chamber, I glanced back over my shoulder to see Emily gazing intensely at the model Labyrinth, muttering something to herself, and Matt standing stoic, his sword at the ready. Then we were through the door and back in the Labyrinth's passage.

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 **AN: Alright, I'll see you guys in a couple of days with the next to last chapter!**


	21. Chapter 21: I Find Out

**AN: Hey guys! I'm back with the penultimate chapter! I know you're all dying to find out what happens next, but a couple of things first. Number one, we have surpassed 100 reviews on this story! I am BLOWN AWAY! Thank you all SO MUCH for all of your support, whether you've reviewed or not. I cannot ever express how much I appreciate it. So thank you guys!**

 **Number two, it's time for review responses. First, from RockRoy: "** **Great chapter once again :) Since nobody died in it, I guess the next two chapters will answer that question. I hope that Joce doesn't die..."  
A: You're about to find out.**

 **Next, from the-only-soldier-left: "Asdfghjklqwertyuiopzxcvbnm. I just spat the entire alphabet."  
A: That's pretty impressive.**

 **From cghe: "Thanks for responding to my question! And yes, I reread and see that you have mentioned that she wanted to switch to something with a clip. I'd also recommend the SwissMiniGun C1ST, but for fear of being put on the FBI watch list forever, I'd probably stop searching up concealed guns, or smallest guns, or most powerful guns, etc."  
A: I'll have to look into that. Not too closely though. I don't want to end up on an FBI watch list, too, lol.**

 **Another from cghe: "So, what powers does Gaius have? He has the Titan push back thing that Percy hated a lot, but is that it? I don't really remember any powers with time. He's good with a sword. I think I remember a scene where Elizabeth speculates on his control over stuff, and where 'Monsters naturally obey him', but he doesn't really seem all that powerful."  
A: Gaius's powers were a tricky thing for me to handle. After all, if I'd given him Kronos's time powers he would've been way too powerful to still be mortal. But if I gave him nothing, he wouldn't be powerful enough. I gave him the push back thing, as you've noted, as a sort of middle ground. I also made sure he was incredibly intelligent and a very skilled fighter to compensate for his relative lack of powers. Also, he has some "passive" abilities that I haven't really been able to get into yet, but those definitely bolster him, too.**

 **A last one from cghe: "Also, is it just me, or are the legacies way OP? It seems that they all get a combination of the two powers their parents possess, without any detraction from the mortal side. I know you try hard to make it not so (Elizabeth getting drowsy after using water) but I couldn't help but think, Gee, Emily seems really, really, powerful."  
A: I've tried to do a pretty good job of balancing out the legacy's abilities. Like you noted with Elizabeth, using her powers takes a lot out of her. Her most impressive feats have either incapacitated her or otherwise she hasn't done alone. But Emily is definitely OP. I think that's in part due to being the kid of both Hazel and Frank. I wanted her to take more after Hazel powers-wise. Thus her magic. But since everyone in Frank's bloodline gets the shapeshifting abilities, which are already overpowered to begin with, it really made Emily incredibly formidable. She has her limits, of course, and I hope to explore those as the series continues, but you aren't wrong in saying she's REALLY powerful.**

 **From EllaAnnieGrace: "So Madaline Clement basically named her daughter after her father."  
A: Yep, pretty much.**

 **Another from EllaAnnieGrace: "And my gods it still seems like alot has to happen to have the prophcey come true."  
A: You're not wrong.**

 **From AnamariaJovel: "Ok but we know it's not Matt that dies, because he will experience a huge leap to Praetor of Camp Jupiter, right? I mean, if I was following the foreshadowing properly then Matt CAN'T die? As for Emily, I don't know what I'll do if she dies! But... Oh IF ANY OF THEM DIE ILL BE SO HEARTBROKEN! Why do you do this to us!"  
A: Because I'm evil...? Jk, I'm not evil. Well... maybe I'll let you be the judge of that after this chapter.**

 **From Unicute17: "Y R U sooo EVIL! Y? Y? Y?"  
A: Have you tried being evil? It's sort fun. But seriously, though, I do this because I think it makes the story more compelling, tense, and emotional all at once.**

 **Another from Unicute17: "Also I wanted to thank you for making Elizabeth have a physical impairment because I myself have a physical impairment and it makes me feel good to see her so strong"  
A: Thank you for sharing that with us. I'm glad Elizabeth's impairment is making you feel good. That's part of the reason I decided to take the route I did with Elizabeth's character, and I'm happy that I've made an impact by doing so.**

 **And lastly, from N: "100 reviews whooooooooooooooooooa"  
A: I KNOW! IT'S CRAZY!**

 **Alright, that's it for reviews. Time for the chapter. And, I'm sorry in advance. DFTBA!**

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Chapter 21: I Find Out Who That One Line Referred To

We dashed down the corridor at top speed. Just as Emily promised, it was a straight shot. Around us the material that the passage was made from changed. We ran through sections of made of stone, brick, stainless steel, wood, marble, until finally we made it to a section composed of roughhewn bricks, just like the part of the Labyrinth we'd entered at the very beginning of the quest. A few feet ahead, the corridor came to an abrupt stop. In the center of the wall, a blue symbol glowed. Theo touched it and the wall split open.

We dashed outside into the open air, the sunlight temporarily blinding us. I heard the sound of bows being pulled taut. Then a voice said, "Hold your fire!"

I blinked away the spots in my eyes. A squad of Hunters, who'd no doubt been guarding the Labyrinth entrance, were lowering their bows. Thalia strode forward briskly. "Artemis almighty," Thalia exclaimed. "What happened? You guys have been gone a month! What happened to the other two? What about Pasiphaë?"

"We don't have a lot of time," I said. "An hour, assuming everything goes according to plan. Get Hylla up here. We've got incoming."

* * *

My friends and I explained the situation to Thalia and Hylla as quickly as possible. They listened intently. When they heard that Gaius was coming, they looked at each other excitedly. "We have them outnumbered," Hylla said. "Easily outnumbered."

"We'll end this war today!" Thalia exclaimed.

I wanted to think so, too, but I was worried. My prophecy still hadn't come to fruition. And besides that, I got the feeling that Gaius still had a couple tricks up his sleeves. Jocelyn glanced at me, and I knew she could tell I had misgivings about this.

All around us, the mountaintop erupted in a flurry of activity. Hunters and Amazons mobilized, forming a defensive perimeter around the chunk of wall that had the Labyrinth entrance. Hunters stood at the ready with bows. Amazons brandished spears and swords. A few were in battle forklifts. In total, there were about one hundred well-armed and well-trained warriors. The odds looked good, but I was still worried.

Thalia, Hylla, Jocelyn, Theo, and I stood at the center of the defensive arc, directly across from the Labyrinth door. Theo and Jocelyn had both been given more ammunition, so they stood with their weapons at the ready. I tapped my foot nervously, Marianas held tightly in my hand. The place where the spartoi had cut into my robot arm was sparking again. I'd have to have Jake look at it when I got back to Camp Half-Blood. But for now, it was working fine.

Suddenly, the black stone wall split open. All around me, bows were pulled taut. Through the opening, Gaius and his crew emerged. Gaius blinked the sun out of his eyes, then looked around at our defensive line with raised eyebrows. When his eyes found me, he smiled. "My, my, Elizabeth," he said, "quite the welcoming party you've organized for me." If he was surprised, he was hiding it well. That made my stomach churn. If he'd been expecting something like this…

"Son of Kronos," Thalia shouted, "it is time for you to surrender. You and your troops are outnumbered and surrounded. Turn yourselves over so that you may be tried for your crimes."

Pasiphaë opened her mouth to say something, but Gaius held up his hand to cut her off. His eyes flickered to the left for a split-second, then returned to Thalia. _What did he just look at?_ I wondered.

"You must be Thalia Grace," Gaius said. "I cannot tell you how honored I am to meet you."

"Can't say I feel the same about meeting you," Thalia retorted.

Gaius laughed. "No, I'd imagine not. Besides the fact that I'm 'the enemy,' I also probably remind you of my father, eh?"

Thalia gritted her teeth next to me. Some of the Hunters glanced back and forth between them uneasily. "I don't know what you mean," Thalia said defiantly.

"Don't you?" Gaius asked. "I've seen pictures of him, you know. And I've had dreams about him and his past. I look nearly identical to Luke Castellan, the only boy you ever loved. Seeing me must be like seeing a ghost."

Thalia was shaking slightly. "Shut up!" Was Gaius right? Had Thalia loved Luke once? Perhaps finding that out shouldn't have been surprising to me, but it was.

Gaius laughed. Hylla spoke up, "Quit stalling! You heard what Thalia said. Surrender, or we will use force."

Gaius shifted his attention to the queen of the Amazons. "Ah, yes, Hylla Ramirez-Arellano. Queen of the Amazons. It is also an honor to meet you. You and I have something in common, you know. Neither of us had a great relationship with our fathers. I never knew mine. And you – well, you had an abusive father. Your sister solved that problem permanently, though, didn't she?"

Hylla cursed. The Amazons were growling at Gaius now, but still, the line held its composure, waiting for the order to attack. Before Gaius could keep going, I cut in, "Gaius, I don't know what you're trying to accomplish by antagonizing us, but you guys are badly outnumbered. Just give up. It's over." I barely registered that, while I was nervous, my anxiety was staying in check.

"Ah, see I'm afraid you're wrong," Gaius replied. "It is not over, Elizabeth. In fact, this war is just beginning. As for why I keep talking… well, you might want to glance over at the sun."

I was perplexed. What was that supposed to mean? I looked over at the sun, which was getting low to the horizon. It was… "Sunset?" I asked. And then it clicked. I turned back to Gaius, gaping slightly. How had he timed it so perfectly?

"That's right, Elizabeth," Gaius said. "We're on Mount Othrys, in the Garden of Hesperides. You can only get in and out at sunset. For the next ten or so minutes, my friends and I can leave."

"And how do you plan to do that?" Jocelyn asked. "We have you outnumbered and surrounded, remember?"

"That's true," Gaius conceded. "But there's an interesting thing about the Labyrinth that's going to play to my benefit. Perhaps you knew this, perhaps you didn't, but Thanatos cannot penetrate the maze. That means that the souls of anyone or anything that dies down there belongs to Pasiphaë."

I gasped slightly. I'd totally forgotten about that. Poseidon had warned me before I even left on this quest that that happened. I hadn't even considered what that might mean, though…

Pasiphaë ripped her necklace from her neck. The rubies – which I'd imagined were glowing down in her chamber – were definitely glowing now. "In short," Gaius said, "good luck."

Pasiphaë threw her necklace on the ground. The rubies burst apart. There was a great whooshing sound, and all Hades broke loose.

* * *

A horde of enemies exploded into existence between our defensive perimeter and the demititans. Monsters, zombies, spirits… anything or anyone that had died in the Labyrinth burst into existence before us. The defensive line broke as Hunters and Amazons were forced to fall back by the sudden army. Directly in front of me, the Minotaur had appeared. He charged at me, his sharp horns gleaming. I switched Marianas to trident mode and braced it against the ground. The monster impaled himself on it. Meanwhile, the demititans were using the distraction to get away.

"We have to stop them!" I shouted, slashing threw three giant bat monsters that had descended on me. But there were so many monsters and so much chaos, that no one heard me. I couldn't even find Jocelyn and Theo in the insanity. However, a few yards ahead and to my right, Thalia was fighting some Roman zombies with her spear.

I hacked my way through the crowd towards her. "Thalia!" I yelled. "They're getting away!" This time, she heard me. Her eyes flickered over to where the demititans and Pasiphaë were now, the monsters making way for them.

"I'll clear a path!" Thalia called back. She raised her spear and lightning blasted out of the air, ricocheted off her spear, and blasted a hole in the wall of enemies. I dashed through it before more monsters filled their spots and ran after the demititans. Gaius saw me coming.

"You don't know when to give up, do you?" he called to me. "Unfortunately, I don't have time to spare. Eight minutes and counting until we'll trapped here."

"Then I only have to stall you for eight minutes," I said back.

"Alone?" Gaius said, his eyebrows raised. "Seems foolhardy, even for you." He was right. There was no one near me. All the Hunters and Amazons were spread out across the mountaintop, each surrounded by a sea of monsters. Theo and Jocelyn were nowhere to be found. Thalia, who'd cleared the way for me, had immediately been surrounded again.

Still, I raised my sword up. "If I have to."

Gaius rolled his eyes. "Drake, hold her off, but do not kill her."

"But, sir, what if I get stuck here?" the huge man asked.

"Don't get stuck here," Gaius sneered. "Incapacitate her quickly without killing her, then get off the mountain. If you're not capable of doing that, then what's even the point of keeping you on the council?"

Gaius motioned to the rest of his crew to follow him. They did. Eliana shot me one last look of malice as they departed. I wanted to follow, but Drake stood firmly in my way, his huge double-sided axe held in both hands. "You humiliated me," he growled.

"You didn't really need my help with that," I retorted.

"Screw Gaius's orders," Drake spat. "You're dead meat!"

"Oh wow, first time I've heard that one," I muttered sarcastically.

Drake let out a yell and leaped forward, his axe blade whistling through the air. I sidestepped the attack. The blade hit the ground so hard that the stone cracked. I stabbed forward, hoping to catch Drake before he could get around, but he was fast. He turned and blocked my sword with his axe shaft. He pushed hard, sending me tumbling backwards. His axe ripped through the air, headed straight for my neck. I ducked just in time. I slashed upwards, but Drake stepped back quickly. He retaliated. I raised my sword to block the attack. Bad idea. The force of his blow sent me spinning. I lost my balance and fell to the ground, which turned out to be lucky, because Drake's axe went flying right over top of me.

I sprung quickly back to my feet, but Drake's axe was right there yet again. He whirled the massive weapon around quickly, forcing me to back up. Meanwhile, the battle continued all around us. I could see Thalia trying to make her way over to me, but there were just too many monsters. Finally I located Jocelyn and Theo. Both of them had managed to climb atop one of the chunks of walls on the mountaintop and were firing down at the monsters. They were safe. For now, anyway.

But I couldn't spare them any focus. I was too busy with Drake. He was pushing me back towards one of the walls. If he got me pinned against it, I was mincemeat. Luckily, I found an opening. One of his swings was a little too wide. I ducked around him, slashing at his side as I did so. The blow left a dent in his armor. He growled in pain, and I was sure I'd left him a nasty bruise, but otherwise my blow hadn't dealt any real damage.

Drake spun around just as a nearby Telkhine charged me. I dove sideways just in time, and Drake's axe killed the monster. I swung my sword right at Drake's neck, but he raised his axe just in time and blocked the strike. He pushed hard against me, and I fell back several steps. I bumped into one of the Underworld escapees that Pasiphaë had summoned. "Watch it!" the familiar voice growled. I glanced sideways as Emperor Nero shoved me off of him. He raised his ukulele at me like a club. I ducked sideways and the instrument shattered against the ground. Meanwhile, Drake was coming at me fast, his axe whirling through the air. I grabbed Nero with my left hand and tossed him into Drake's path. The axe tore the former emperor to shreds. I used the opportunity to slash up along Drake's side. The straps of his armor broke as my sword went through them. He howled in pain. I moved to strike again, but he took one hand off of his axe and backhanded me across the face so hard I went flying ten feet backwards.

I hit the ground hard, dazed. I clambered to my feet. I tasted blood. I raised my hand to my face and realized my nose was bleeding profusely. Drake was pulling off his ruined armor. Underneath he wore a plain white t-shirt. The side I'd just slashed was blood stained. He pounded his side with one hand. "You think that's enough to stop me, Jackson!" he roared.

I wanted to toss him a witty response, but I was too dazed to think of anything. Instead, I pressed the trident button on Marianas and sent an energy blast his way. He reflected the blast off of his axe, which is what I expected. But while the blast was still flying towards him, I'd charged, switching back to sword mode as I did so. As soon as he'd reflected the energy blast, I was there. He turned sideways just in time to avoid my stab, then slammed me in the gut with the butt of his axe. I doubled over, wheezing. Drake's foot came rocketing up towards my face. I felt my jaw crack. I flew backwards, winded, dazed, and aching. Drake stood over me, a look of triumphant malice on his face. He chuckled darkly. "Not good enough, I'm afraid," he growled.

But before he could raise his axe to kill me, there was a whooshing sound and a glinting rope cracked against his face. Jocelyn's whip. Drake roared, backing up a couple of steps, a hand to his face. When he pulled it away, I saw a diagonal gash across from his left eyebrow to the right side of his jaw-line. "Leave my friend alone!" Jocelyn yelled.

She charged him, lashing out with her whip again. This time, Drake was expecting it. He caught the whip and pulled. But Jocelyn was quick. She let go of the whip before Drake could pull her within range of his axe. She raised her gun and pulled the trigger. Drake deflected the bullet off of his axe. But before Jocelyn could fire again, Drake had lunged towards her. I tried to call out, but I could barely move. Drake's axe went sailing through the air. Jocelyn ducked under it just in time. She placed her gun right in Drake's gut, but in the split second before she pulled the trigger, Drake's foot shot up. Jocelyn was thrown backwards by the forceful kick, her gun going off into the air.

Finally, I staggered to my feet. Drake was approaching Jocelyn, who lay dazed on the ground. "Hey," I croaked. Drake heard me. "Don't you want to finish business with me, first?" I asked. I kept glancing over at Jocelyn, worried. Some monsters were getting dangerously close to her, but she seemed to be regaining her bearings. I had to hope she'd be alright, because Drake was turning back to me. I was sore. The blood from my nose was starting to choke me. My jaw ached painfully. I didn't see how I was going to survive, but it was better I die than Jocelyn.

"Yes, you're right," Drake said. "I'll finish you off first." He charged at me again. I was barely able to raise my sword in time. But in my dazed state, I'd forgotten that I couldn't exactly block his axe. Our blades collided, and I spun sideways. I ducked instinctively. Drake's axe flew over my head. It was so close that the blade actually caught my ponytail. The blade was so sharp that my hair was sliced off instant, barely tugging at my head as it did so. _Damn, that's a_ sharp _blade_. My ponytail fell to the ground at my feet, but I didn't have time to worry about that.

I used my momentum to bring my sword all the way around. But Drake was prepared. He blocked my sword with the shaft of his axe. He shoved hard and I fell backwards. His axe whirled through the air. I ducked and dodged, backpedaling away from him. Then my back hit a wall. _Shit_ , I thought. The exact thing I'd been trying to avoid before had happened. He'd backed me up against a wall.

He swung his axe horizontally at me. I raised my sword to block the strike. Suddenly, my robotic hand twitched uncontrollably. My sword fell from my hand. Drake's axe bit into my metal arm. Thank gods I'd had Jake decrease the pain sensitivity, because otherwise I probably would've blacked out. As it was, I howled in pain. Drake's axe was caught halfway through the metal limb. He yanked hard, pulling the blade out. I fell to my knees, tears stinging my eyes. He cleaved downwards with his axe. I rolled away just in time. The problem was, Marianas was still lying on the ground at Drake's feet. Meanwhile, my robotic right arm shooting sparks out of the new, thick gash rapidly. I heard whirring sounds coming out of it. The fingers were twitching rapidly.

Drake turned towards me, his axe coming down towards me again. I scrambled backwards, still on the ground, the wall to my left. Finally, I saw my opening. He raised his axe up too high, his legs were too far apart. I dove forwards, rolling between his legs, and scooped up Marianas in my left hand. I swung hard at Drake's back, but he turned and blocked my attack. "Why don't you just give up?" he snarled. "You can't keep this up forever!"

"I don't need to," I said through gritted teeth, my eyes on the horizon. Only a sliver of the sun remained above the horizon. "I just need to keep it up until sunset is over."

Drake glanced over his shoulder and saw how low the sun was. He yelled in anger. He pushed against my sword so hard that I fell over. My left wrist twisted painfully, and I dropped my sword again. I reached for it, but he kicked the blade aside and stamped on my fingers. I screamed in pain. He lifted his foot off my hand, then kicked me in the side, sending me rolling back into the wall. I coughed up blood. Drake raised his axe for the killing blow, and I was sure I was dead. My brain couldn't summon up any clever escapes this time. The only thought I could register was: _I guess Gaius was wrong about our destined fight_.

Suddenly, a voice screamed, "NO!" A person leaped in front of me just as Drake swung his axe. The blade embedded itself in their chest. Their momentum sent them falling sideways, ripping Drake's axe from his hands as the person fell to the ground. They slammed into the ground next to me. The world seemed to freeze for a moment as I looked over at the person who'd just given their life for mine. The axe sprouted from the front of a black t-shirt. The shirt was already soaked with blood. A silver circlet lay on the ground next to their head. It was Thalia.

Time started again. I screamed, my voice mingled pain and hatred. I leaped to my feet, suddenly full of adrenaline. I slammed my broken metal arm into Drake's face. I heard bone crunch. I punched him in the gut with my left hand, which was agony, considering my fingers were probably broken. But I didn't care. I pulled back my right arm to hit him again. Before I could, Drake thrust out his arm and shoved me backwards. Then he turned tail and ran. I glanced at the horizon. Sunset wasn't quite over yet. He had seconds, but that was long enough to get away. I had to stop him. I had to kill him for what he'd done.

I sprinted after him, not even bothering to scoop up my sword. All I cared about was catching Drake. He was running down the mountainside at full sprint. The garden was a blur as I sped past in hot pursuit. We were both moving so quickly that not even the dragon paid us mind when we passed the golden apple tree. Drake glanced over his shoulder at me. I was closing the distance between us. I was only a few yards behind him. Then a few feet. I reached out to grab him, then he passed through the barrier. The invisible barrier hardened behind him as the sun finally finished setting. I slammed into it at full speed. I bounced off, falling to the ground in a daze.

"No, no, NO!" I yelled. I leaped back to my feet and slammed into the barrier again. Once again, I bounced off, falling over as I did so. I screamed louder than I could ever remember screaming - except maybe after getting my arm chopped off the previous year. I screamed until my throat was raw. It was over. The demititans had gotten away, even Drake. And he'd… He'd…

I broke down in tears. _Thalia_ , I thought. I heard footfalls approaching, but I didn't care who it was. "Oh thank gods," a voice said. I turned. The voice was Theo's. Jocelyn was by his side. "The battle ended and we couldn't find you or Drake. And then we heard you scream. We thought… we thought you were…"

I staggered to my feet, tears still pouring down my face. "Thalia… Is she…?"

Theo and Jocelyn glanced at each other. "She's hanging on for now," Jocelyn said grimly. "But she doesn't have long. I'm… I'm sorry Elizabeth." Her voice cracked when she said my name. I didn't pay it any mind. I shouldered past my friends and dashed up to the top of the hill.

* * *

 **AN: Please don't kill me.**

 **I'll see you guys with the final chapter on Wednesday night/early Thursday morning.**


	22. Chapter 22: We Burn a Shroud

**AN: Alright guys, I am back for the very last chapter of Elizabeth Jackson and the Magician's Maze. I will have a message for you guys down at the bottom concerning when you can expect an update on what's to come next, so stick around for that. Before I do review responses, I want to thank you guys so much for sticking with me. We've now completed three books out of my series, and it's all because of your continued support. I wouldn't have been able to make it this far if not for your support, so give yourselves a big hand!**

 **Alright, time to respond to some reviews. The first one is from RockRoy: "** **Oooh, I know two gods who will be angry bout that. Thank the gods Joce didn't die, she's too awesome to die :)"  
A: Yeah, you can bet that Artemis and Zeus are not going to be happy about this, though we won't see much of their reaction to this just yet.  
And, yeah, Jocelyn is pretty freaking awesome. I'm glad you're glad she's alive.**

 **From AnamariaJovel: "... I just... Why would you... Thalia?!... The one person you would think would survive, SHE'S IMMORTAL IN THE HUNT FOR GOODNESS SAKE! She died in battle... And now I'm completely destroyed... I'm scarred now... When Jason finds out, oh my gosh when Jason finds out! :'( This is just so sad..."  
A: I know. Killing Thalia was one of the hardest things I've done as a writer. You can bet that lots of characters will be devastated by Thalia's death.**

 **From SkylightRiver678: "I was soo not expecting that ..."  
A: Well, that's what I was going for. So I'm glad that I surprised you.**

 **From EllaAnnieGrace: "At the begining of the chapter I had a feeling Thalia was going to die... I guess my feeling was correct."  
A: Nice job predicting that.**

 **From an anonymous guest: "Thalia died...Percy will probably become a frozen icicle, Annabeth, will die, Jason will probably faint, and Elizabeth will probably blame herself and never forgive herself. Yep...you just did that** **Yet I'm soooo excited to read the last chapter!"  
A: You're not entirely inaccurate about their reactions. And I'm glad you're excited about this chapter!**

 **From cghe: "You know, you should totally have 100 reviews. The fact that you have 20 favs/follows but 100 reviews indicate that you have a sort of 'cult' following. But what isn't there to like? Great plot, follows canon, characters in character, and frequent updates. Thanks so much!"  
A: Thank you so much! Honestly, I know I thank you guys for reading all the time, but I really do mean it. I couldn't drive myself to keep writing if not for your support. And honestly, I am perfectly happy having a small but loyal fanbase. I obviously wouldn't be opposed to having a wider audience, but the fact that the people that are reading are so invested in the story really means a lot to me.**

 **Another from cghe: "BTW, since I only joined fanfiction recently, I'm not sure about server delays and such, but why does it seem that you always put out your stories at 1:00 am? Sometimes there's no delay, and other times it seems there is huge delay."  
A: In part, that's my fault. Calling myself a bit of a night owl would be a vast understatement. So I naturally prefer to stay up late. Additionally, I usually do most of my work on this story, including editing, after I've done everything I need to do for schoolwork for the day. So I'm not usually posting until midnight or one. But there are times when there's a bit of a delay on the site's end, too, which compounds it.**

 **One last one from cghe: "I still don't understand the veil and all that, but having Thalia die seemed liked the only real choice that would fit the story. Saddening, and also reciprocating how Zoe died. (A son of atlas, no less!) You plan your stories really, really, well. I'd even forgot the sunset thing until you reminded it.** **I really like how your stories are mirroring the original."  
A: Yeah, killing Thalia was my best choice, even though it killed me to do it. But I felt that it was important to do so to drive both character and series development, as well as making it clear just how serious things are. And yeah, it was a very intentional mirror to Zoe's death in Titan's Curse. When I was first planning my series, I wanted to make sure that these stories mirrored Percy Jackson and the Olympians just as PJO mirrored the original myths (like not just using gods and monsters and Titans and so forth, but also similar stories). But yeah, I do put a lot of thought and planning into developing each of these stories because I want to put out the very best story I am capable of writing.**

 **From Liz: "** **I would say nice as usual but YOU FREAKING KILLED THALIA. *uncontrollable madman laughter*"  
A: I'm sorry. Please don't hunt me down and murder me.**

 **From Unicute17: "THALIA! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! YOU R AN EVIL MASTERMIND!"  
A: I know I'm evil. But I had reasons for doing it _besides_ the fact that I'm evil.**

 **From N: "this may sound bad but phew its only thalia. also how did drake block a point blank bullet"  
A: It doesn't sound bad. To me, it's a compliment because it lets me know just how much you care about the characters I created. As for Drake, he kicked Jocelyn just before she pulled the trigger, so she missed rather than him blocking it.**

 **From the-only-soldier-left: "PLEASE DON'T KILL YOU?! You better thank the gods I don't know where you live! Cos if I did..."  
A: I know, I'm sorry. Again though, please don't kill me.**

 **From Carlyle: "DONT LET THALS DIE! FORGET THE PROPHECY ITS F**KING THALIA SHE CAN'T DIE! Screw Elizabeth and the hunters, just SAVE THALS she's my favorite character! Plz..."  
A: I'm really really sorry. I really like Thalia, too. But I've already committed to this. I hope you can still enjoy the rest of my series.**

 **Alright guys, that's all the reviews. As I expected, a lot of people are unhappy at me for killing Thalia off. I truly am sorry about that. On a related note to Thalia's death, I just want you all to know that when I first came up with the idea for the first scene of this chapter, I actually teared up. So be prepared for feels. Anyway, I hope you enjoy the chapter, despite how evil I was last time, and DFTBA!**

* * *

Chapter 22: We Burn a Shroud

I was afraid I was too late when I made it back to the mountaintop. The Hunters had formed a ring around the place where Thalia had fallen, staying at a respectful distance. The Amazons stood back even farther. Hylla looked stunned. I pushed past all of them to where Thalia lay against a chunk of wall. Drake's axe still stuck out of her chest. Blood pooled out underneath her. But she was still breathing. Her breaths were shallow, and her eyes unfocused, but she was still alive. For now.

Celia knelt on Thalia's right, her face stony, her eyes red. Thalia's mouth was moving, but I couldn't hear what she was saying. Maybe she was just muttering to herself. I knelt down on Thalia's left. Celia glanced up at me but didn't say anything. Thalia's eyes remained unfocused. Then, they found me and lit up. She reached weakly for my hand. I gripped hers with my left. My robotic right hand had stopped twitching. But it had also just stopped working at all. It was stuck in place.

Thalia said something to me, but I couldn't hear it. I cleared my throat and croaked out, "I – I couldn't hear you."

"It was nothing," Thalia said, her voice barely more than a hoarse whisper, each word clearly requiring a great deal of labor. "I'm just happy you're here, Annabeth."

The world seemed to stop spinning. I teared up again, realizing what was going on. People had always told me I was the spitting image of my mother. In her delirium - despite the several injuries I'd sustained during the fight, including a broken nose and possibly fractured jaw - Thalia couldn't tell the difference. She thought I was my mother.

"Y-yeah," I said, playing the part of my mom. "I'm here, Thals."

Thalia smiled slightly. "I always liked it when you and Luke called me that…" she trailed off, her eyes defocusing again.

I squeezed her fingers slightly. "Hey, Thals, stay with me."

"Annabeth," Thalia muttered. "I – I'm so glad I got to see you again… One… last… time. You're my best friend. I love you."

"Love you too, Thals," I choked out, barely able to continue playing the part of my mom.

And then she was gone. Everything felt cold. Thalia's hand slipped through mine. My fingertips tingled. Sound was gone. In a haze, I stood back up. Some of the Hunters were coming forward. I walked away from Thalia's body, shouldering my way between them. The Amazons were staying at a distance, but I shouldered past them, too, moving faster and faster. I didn't know where I was going or what I was doing, but I had to get out of there. I had to get away. Then suddenly, Theo and Jocelyn were right in front of me. I tried to move past them, but they grabbed onto me. Theo tried to say something. I could tell he was speaking because his lips were moving, but I still couldn't hear anything.

Then Jocelyn spoke, her voice cutting through the haze, just as it had done during the first panic attack I had in front of my friends. "Elizabeth, look at me." I did as she said. I stopped fighting my friends' grip. "I know how hard this is," she said, tearing up as well. "Trust me, I know all too well. But you can't just run away from it."

"Why?" I asked. "That's what you did." I regretted the words as soon as I said them.

Jocelyn flinched as if I'd punched her, but she took it in stride. "I know. And it didn't help. I thought it did, but in reality all I had was unresolved pain. I finally figured it out when I told you and Theo what happened: running away from the pain doesn't make it better. You have to face the pain if you're ever going to move past it."

I bit hard on my lip. "Thalia is – she's –"

My friends both wrapped their arms around me and pulled me into a tight hug. I felt like crying again, but I was too numb. And I didn't have any tears left to shed, anyway. I just let my two best friends hold me for a minute before I gently extricated myself from their arms. I sniffed slightly, but didn't say anything. Already, my grief was beginning to harden back into anger. Anger at Drake for killing Thalia. Anger at myself for costing Thalia her life. Anger at Gaius for whole war to begin with. And anger at Thalia for throwing herself in front of Drake's blade. I felt guilty for that last one. My legs wobbled dangerously, but I stayed standing. I looked at Theo and Jocelyn again.

It was time. "I need to tell you guys something," I started. But before I could, Celia had drifted over, her jaw tight.

I thought for a moment she was going to yell at me, and with the mix of emotions I was feeling right now, there was no way that would end well. When she spoke though, her voice was soft. "Elizabeth," she said. "Thank you for… what you did for her at the end. It was… I could tell it meant a lot to her thinking… thinking what she thought." I nodded, not able to find my voice. I was dumbstruck by Celia's kindness. She'd always been sort of… aloof towards me. Granted, I barely knew her and vice versa, but still… Now, though, she seemed genuinely thankful. Celia went on. "For now, I have taken over temporary command of the Hunters, at least until Lady Artemis appoints someone officially as lieutenant. Anyway, as acting commander, it is my duty to… make arrangements for… those that have fallen. I know that you and your family were close to Thalia. And I know that Thalia held them in high regard, too. So… I've decided that we'll have Thalia's ceremony at Camp Half-Blood."

That stunned me even more. "I – I don't know what to say, but… thank you," I stammered. "I know it will mean a lot to… well, a lot of people, to be able to see her off."

Celia nodded. "Unfortunately, we're stuck here until tomorrow evening, unless, of course, a god intervenes. You should get some medical attention. And then you should get some rest. We're getting tents set back up now."

"I can take care of the medical attention part," Theo said. "Is there a good tent for us to use."

"Preferably a little away from the action," Jocelyn added, pointedly.

Celia nodded. "Of course." She led us away from the ruins on the summit. Right outside what must have once been the main entrance to the Titan's fortress, Celia tossed down one of the collapsing tents. With one word, it sprung into shape. She motioned us in. "If you need anything," she said, "let one of us know." With that, she left us.

We went inside the tent, which had three cots, and rugs made of all sort of animal skin. Theo sat me down on a bed and started first aid. "No," I said.

"Elizabeth," Theo said, "I need to give you medical attention. You're pretty battered from your fight."

"I get that," I replied. "But first I… I want to tell you guys something. My prophecy."

Jocelyn and Theo tensed. "You don't have to tell us –" Jocelyn started.

"I want to tell you," I interrupted. I felt really lousy about… everything, but at the moment I was having a burst of clarity, and I intended to take advantage of it. "Most of it has already happened, anyway. And I know you guys were curious. Thank you, by the way, for not pestering me about it on the quest."

"We knew you were under a lot of stress without us asking you about it," Theo said. "And we figured you had a reason."

"I did," I said. "It's because… It's because the prophecy predicted what happened. Except… except I thought it would be one of you guys. Or Matt or Emily."

"What do you mean?" Jocelyn asked.

I let out a sigh. My clarity was dissolving again, the fog of intense depression was rolling back in. Numbness was beginning to return. Still, I pushed through. "I'm sorry I'm not making a lot of sense," I said. "Here's the prophecy: _Five shall go into the maze / To cease the witch's endless days. / No matter how hard the heroes try…_ " I faltered, steadied myself, then continued, " _At the end… a friend will die. / Ultimately, the quest shall fail: / The son of Kronos shall destroy the veil._ "

Jocelyn and Theo remained silent for a moment, then Jocelyn spoke up. "You… you thought one of us was going to die?"

I nodded miserably. "And I was ready to die trying to prevent that. But I didn't… I didn't think for a second… I always kinda thought Thalia would never die, that she was untouchable…" I couldn't keep going. My grief hit me like a wall again, and I fell silent, blinking away fresh tears.

I lost track of time as we sat there in silence, the numbness taking over again. At some point, Theo started performing first aid on me, but I barely noticed it. Later, Matt and Emily entered the tent, looking stricken. Part of me was relieved they were okay, but I couldn't muster up the energy to say anything about it. Sound had disappeared once again. And this time, not even Jocelyn's voice was able to cut through the fog.

* * *

A few days later, I stood in the Poseidon cabin bathroom, looking at myself in the mirror. I was still recovering from my fight with Drake, which had left quite the toll on me. My ring, middle, and index fingers on my left hand had all been broken, and despite ingesting as much Nectar and Ambrosia as the Apollo campers dared to feed me, my fingers had yet to fully heal and thus were taped together with popsicle sticks taped in-between. My robotic right arm was gone entirely. Jake had taken it back to Bunker Nine as soon as I'd returned to Camp Half-Blood for extensive repairs. He promised me I'd have it back soon, but for now I was down an arm and limited to using only my thumb and pinky fingers on my one hand. It made doing just about everything a challenge. A couple of my ribs were cracked from when Drake had kicked me in the side. My jaw had sustained fractures in several places. There wasn't much the Apollo campers could do about either of those except tell me to ice it. Bruises had bloomed in both locations and were turning that gross green color that bruises sometimes turned. The result on my face was that I looked ill. My nose, while no longer broken thanks to the godly food I'd eaten, had healed slightly crooked.

Worst of all, I was definitely feeling my injuries now. I hadn't felt them initially, at least not to the extent that I did now. At first it was the adrenaline. Then my numbness over Thalia's death. But after the initial numbness subsided, the pain bloomed in full force. My chest ached with each breath. My jaw was in agony every time I spoke, ate, drank, or opened my jaw for any other reason. My nose was still tender, and breathing through my nose aggravated it. Still, it was better than breathing through my mouth, since that required me to open my mouth and thus put my jaw in agony. My broken fingers ached dully, but since I couldn't do anything with them they definitely could've felt worse.

Anyway, I was examining myself in the mirror. Katherine had been helping me get ready, then she left me alone to my thoughts, which I appreciated. I was wearing the nicest black shirt I had with me at camp and a pair of black jeans. The right sleeve of my shirt was pinned up over my stump. I wasn't super fancy, but then, I didn't need to be for a camp funeral. I tilted my head slightly, my newly-short hair following the motion. After I'd made it back to camp a couple of the Aphrodite campers had taken scissors to my hair and evened it out. I liked the new haircut – it stayed out of the way, which would be useful as the war went on. It was even shorter than Jocelyn's, falling even with my jaw line and tapering slightly towards the back. My hair was still wavy, of course, but somehow it all worked well.

I shook myself slightly. What was I doing admiring my own haircut? Thalia was dead, the war was only increasing in intensity, I was still out of commission… I had more important things to be focusing on than my hair or my clothes.

There was a knock at the bathroom door. "You okay in there?" Katherine asked.

"Yeah," I said. "Sorry, I was just –"

"It's fine," Katherine said. "Just wanted to make sure. You've been in there for a while."

I turned and opened the door. "Sorry," I repeated.

Katherine shifted on her feet. "Uh, well someone's here to see you."

I frowned. I was worried it was Augustus. I'd been avoiding him since I got back. Before I could ask, though, a voice called from the front of the cabin, "Elizabeth?" It was Matt.

I moved out of the bathroom and towards the front door. Matt was dressed nicely. He'd gotten his hair cut short again in the few days since the quest ended. His Centurion badge had been newly shined and was pinned prominently to the front of his shirt. I wrapped my left arm around him briefly. "Hey, Matt."

"Hey," he said back. "I uh… just wanted to let you know that Mom and Dad just got here. They're up at the Big House with Chiron."

"What about Uncle Jason and Aunt Piper?" I asked.

"They're arriving with Uncle Leo soon," Matt replied. He shifted uncomfortably before saying, "Mom and Dad are worried about you, Elizabeth. They want to see you. Make sure you're okay."

"I'm fine," I said flatly. It was a lie I'd gotten so used to telling that I almost believed it myself. "Today isn't about me anyway. I already got to say goodbye to Thalia. This is for everyone else. Mom and Dad don't need to be worried about me today."

"I feel like they'd disagree," Matt said.

I shrugged. "I'm sure they would. Can you just go tell Mom and Dad that I'm fine and I'm still getting ready? I'll see you guys over at the amphitheater for the ceremony."

Matt frowned, but he left. Katherine was looking over at me critically. "You know, Elizabeth, it's okay to still be upset. Thalia died less than a week ago. It's natural to still be sad. You don't have to bury it."

"I'm not sad anymore," I said, which wasn't a lie. I wasn't sad. My sadness has hardened into a steely determination. A drive to see Drake pay for what he did, and a drive to become even better; to be ready the next time Gaius and I met. Of course, that meant handling my anxiety. Even though it hadn't bothered me in the last moments of my quest, I didn't want to take any chances. I had to find a better way of handling it than hoping my medication worked. Which meant…

"Listen, Elizabeth," Katherine said. "I've been helping Yolanda deal with her emotional stuff all summer. I can tell when someone is holding it in. And I can tell that's what you're doing. It's what you've been doing. It's not healthy. You've got to open up, Elizabeth."

I sighed. Maybe I would've gotten mad before at being called out like that before, but now there didn't seem to be a point. All my anger was being saved for the enemy. "I know, Katherine. I just… don't feel like opening up right now, okay?"

Katherine came over and laid a hand on my shoulder. "When you're ready, I want you to know that I'm here."

I nodded. "Thanks, Katherine."

* * *

A couple of hours later, Camp Half-Blood, the Hunters, and a great deal of legionnaires from Camp Jupiter, gathered in the amphitheater for Thalia's funeral. Mom, Dad, Uncle Jason, Aunt Piper, and Uncle Leo all sat in the very front row. Uncle Grover was there, too, right on the other side of Mom. Augustus, Sierra, and Riley sat with their parents. Matt sat with our folks. I, however, sat a few rows back. My turn for grief was over. It was their turn. Emily, Amy, Theo, and Jocelyn all sat with me. A glance at the back of the amphitheater showed that we had a couple of divine guests, as well: Artemis and Zeus had both come down from Olympus. They looked on somberly, but stayed well back from us mortals.

Chiron trotted forward, his face ashen, and spoke about how brave Thalia was. Celia got up and said a few words. But honestly, I barely heard what either of them said. Then Dan, from the Hades cabin, came forward and lit Thalia on fire. Her shroud, representing both Artemis and Zeus, gave off multicolored smoke as it burned up. After a few minutes, the crowd began to depart. Before long, the amphitheater was nearly empty, but for some reason, I just couldn't get up. I kept staring down at Thalia's burning shroud.

"Hey, Elizabeth," a voice said. I glanced up. It was Jake. "I should uh… have your arm fixed by tomorrow." I nodded my thanks. Jake shifted uncomfortably, then added. "Well, I guess I'll uh… catch you later?" I nodded again. I wasn't trying to blow off Jake, but I also couldn't muster up much of a response. Thalia's shroud had me transfixed for some reason.

Theo and Jake shared a look, then Jake departed. I turned to my friends. "You guys can get going, too. I'm fine, I just want to think for a little while."

Theo and Jocelyn frowned at each other. "You sure?" Theo asked.

"Yeah," I said. "I'll see you guys later this evening."

Theo and Jocelyn shared a look, then left as well. Emily stood up to leave, too. "Take care of yourself, Elizabeth," she said.

"You, too," I said. "And thank you for… everything. I know it's a few days late, but really… thank you for all you did on the quest. You were incredible. And don't forget that."

Emily blushed slightly at the compliment, but she smiled slightly before she left. Amy was still sitting with me, but she didn't say anything. She seemed lost in thought, just like me, so I certainly couldn't blame her for that. We sat by each other in silence for a few minutes. I glanced down at the front row, where my family was still sitting. Mom was sobbing. Dad had an arm wrapped tightly around her. I couldn't see his face from behind, but based on his posture I could tell he was devastated. Uncle Grover wasn't doing well, either. He sat with his face in his hands, unmoving. Uncle Jason sat in a similar position; hunched over, his head in his hands. Uncle Leo and Aunt Piper sat on either side of him. Aunt Piper had a hand on his shoulder, though she kept glancing worriedly over at their kids, who were huddled together. Sierra was sobbing hard, and suddenly I was struck with something. Sierra needed her best friend. And I realized something for the first time: that wasn't me, and it had never been me.

I looked around for Matt. I didn't have to look far. He was walking up the steps towards me and Amy. "Hey," he said hoarsely. "You guys okay?"

"Matt, listen," I said. "Sierra needs her best friend right now."

Matt glanced back down towards the bottom at Sierra. "Then go to her?" he said to me, unsure where I was going.

"I'm not her best friend," I said. "You are, Matt. She needs _you_."

Matt frowned. "But… things are just so weird with us…"

"Things are weird because you're making them that way," I said flatly. "It's you that can't get over Sierra rejecting you. You're the one who's making things awkward. Sierra wants to move past that, more than anything. And right now, she really needs her best friend. So suck it up and help her."

Matt's face turned beat red. I thought he was going to yell at me, but Amy spoke up first. "Matt, she's right. What happened, happened, and that was a year ago. Sierra needs you now. And besides, holding onto your hurt isn't healthy. It's keeping you from… moving on."

Matt looked back and forth between the two of us, then sighed. "You guys are right. But… but I'm a coward. I don't know if I can face her the same way I used to. And what if I can't move on?"

"You can," I insisted. "And you can be there for her. You two can be friends again. I know it."

Matt sighed again, but he nodded. Slowly, he turned and walked back down the amphitheater's steps to where Sierra was sobbing. Without turning, I said to Amy, "You're gonna have to make the first move."

"Wha – what do you mean?" she stammered.

"I know you have feelings for him," I said. "Believe me, he feels the same way about you. But he's too scared to do anything about it. You're going to have to make the first move."

Amy didn't say anything in response to that. Down at the bottom of the amphitheater, Matt had reached Sierra. Sierra glanced up at him. Matt said something to her I couldn't hear from where I was. Sierra instantly shot up and wrapped Matt in a hug, sobbing into his shoulder. After a moment of hesitation, Matt hugged her back. Meanwhile, I saw Augustus glance back at me. His eyes were red. He'd been crying, too. He stood up and started walking back towards me. My stomach churned uncomfortably. After all, my boyfriend wasn't going to stay my boyfriend for much longer. I'd already decided that. Still, the least I could do was be there for him today.

I turned to Amy. "I'll catch you later. I should, uh… go see what my boyfriend wants." With some trepidation, I got up and walked down towards Augustus. We met halfway down the amphitheater. Gus smiled slightly. "Haven't seen you much since you got back."

"Well, I haven't been back very long," I said. "And I've uh… been occupied."

Augustus nodded, like he understood. He took a deep breath before speaking again. "Listen, Elizabeth, losing my Aunt Thalia it… it reminded me of what's important… and _who's_ important. And for a while, I've been trying to work up the courage to tell you something, but it hasn't been until now that I've felt like I'm able to say it. Elizabeth, I –"

"Don't say it," I interrupted, a knot of dread filling my stomach.

"You don't know what I'm going to say."

"I do," I said. "I do know what you were going to say. You were about to tell me you love me. Please don't say it."

"But I do love you," Gus said. "Why wouldn't you want me to say that?"

I closed my eyes and bit my lip. "Please, Augustus," I said quietly. "I don't… I don't want to do this today."

I still didn't open my eyes, but I could almost feel the chill emanate off of him when I said that. "Now I know what _you_ want to say. Fine. Do it. Rip the Band-Aid off."

My heart pounded uncomfortably against my rib cage - and that wasn't just because of my cracked ribs. "No, Augustus. I'm not going to do it today. Not right after you've –"

"I know what's coming, Elizabeth," he said. "I'm not stupid. And remember who's the grandson of Aphrodite here. I'm not going to live in a lie of a relationship until you decide enough time has passed. Get. It. Over. With."

I felt like crying. I hadn't imagined doing this would be so hard. And if I was being completely honest with myself, _I_ didn't want to lose someone else so soon after losing Thalia. Because no matter what, I still really cared about Augustus. But Augustus was right. It was better to go ahead and rip off the Band-Aid. I opened my eyes. Augustus's face was stony, his jaw clenched. I gulped, then said, "Augustus… I think we should… break up."

"Thank you," he said tightly, "for getting it over with."

Then without another word, he pushed past me and stormed out of the amphitheater. I turned. "Wait, Augustus!" I called, but he ignored me. That hadn't gone at all like I'd wanted it to. I'd wanted to explain to him that I still cared about him, why I was breaking up with him, explain that it wasn't just the fighting, that I needed to focus on myself for a little while… but I hadn't gotten to say any of that.

I groaned and sat on the bench next to me. I felt like a piece of my heart had just been ripped out. Even though it had been my decision, that didn't change the fact that it hurt like Hades. I was so busy feeling bad for myself, that I didn't notice my Aunt Piper coming over to me until she said, "Elizabeth, can I speak with you?"

I glanced up, saw who it was, then yelped, "Please don't kill me!"

Aunt Piper tilted her head sideways, her kaleidoscope eyes confused. "Er… why would I kill you?"

I cursed at myself under my breath, then said to her, "Well, I sorta… just broke up with your son."

Piper glanced back in the direction Augustus had stormed off, then turned back to me. "I'm surprised it took this long." I gaped at her in surprise. She sat down next to me. "Honestly, I never thought you guys would make a long-lasting match."

"Why didn't you say anything?" I asked.

"I let my children make their own decisions about their love-lives," she said. "Think about it, if I'd told you and Augustus that I didn't think you two were very compatible, wouldn't the two of you protested and held onto your relationship even longer?"

I frowned. "I guess you're right."

"So no, Elizabeth, I'm not upset at you," Aunt Piper continued. "But I am worried about you."

I groaned slightly. "Please, don't be. Everyone is worried about me all the time. I'm fine."

"That's a load of cow dung," said another voice. I glanced up. It was Uncle Leo. He sat down on the other side of me. "Trust me, kiddo, I can tell when I'm hearing BS, and let me tell you, you're giving off huge BS readings."

"Look, Elizabeth," Aunt Piper said, "we're not saying this to make it seem like you can't handle yourself. We just wanted you to know that you really don't have to handle everything all on your own."

"I know that," I said defensively. "And I'm going to try and be better about that, honest. But I just… I don't know. I don't have anything I need to talk about right now."

"How about the way you feel about Thalia's death?" Aunt Piper suggested.

"Yeah, you've been acting like a freaking statue the whole time we've been here," Uncle Leo said. "And you didn't sit with your folks during the ceremony."

"I already got to say my goodbye to Thalia," I said. "Back on Mount Othrys. Today wasn't about me."

"Elizabeth," Aunt Piper said, "you don't have to feel bad for your feelings. It's okay to be upset."

"I'm not sad anymore," I protested.

"Oh really?" Uncle Leo said. "Well then you must be a ray of happiness. Could have fooled me."

"No, I –"

"Then how do you feel?" Piper asked.

"Angry," I finally snapped, sharing my thoughts on the subject out loud for the first time. "I'm so angry. I'm livid. I want to tear every single last demititan into little tiny pieces, especially Drake." I looked down at the ground. "But I know I'm not supposed to feel this way."

"Being angry is a natural response," Aunt Piper said.

"No, you don't understand," I said. "I literally want to _kill_ them. Killing is wrong. Last year I killed one of the demititans _accidentally_ and I threw up. What does it say about me now, seeing as I _want_ to kill them?"

"I'm not surprised," Uncle Leo said. "Wanting to kill someone for taking away somebody you cared about is not unusual, trust me on that one."

"What's important is talking about it," Aunt Piper repeated. "That's the only way you'll be able to move past it. Leo and I know all about bottling things up. So do your parents and Uncle Jason. We've all held in how we've felt before. But your feelings can do you a lot of harm if you don't talk about them and release them."

"I get it," I said shortly. "I do. I just – I just don't want to talk about it right now." Uncle Leo and Aunt Piper fell silent. After a moment, I started feeling guilty. "I'm sorry for snapping at you," I said. "I just… Thank you for caring about me. And I will definitely keep what you've said in mind. But right now, I just need some space." With that I stood up and strode out of the amphitheater without another word.

* * *

Later that night, I sat on the beach, staring out at the Long Island Sound, deep in thought. Today had been… taxing. Still, when I'd tried to go to bed, my brain wouldn't shut down. So I did what I usually did when I couldn't sleep.

The gentle waves of the ocean calmed me, and my storming thoughts slowed enough for me to focus on one at a time. First, there was my prophecy. Despite the fact that my quest was over, I still didn't understand all of my prophecy. A lot of it was clear now, of course. _Five shall go inside the maze / To cease the witch's endless days._ Theo, Jocelyn, Emily, Matt, and I had all gone into the Labyrinth to try to drag Pasiphaë out and bring an end to her immortality. _No matter how hard the heroes try, / At the end, a friend will die_. All of us had fought to the best of our ability. I had tried especially hard to prevent anyone from dying. But despite all of that, Thalia had died. Not one of the friends I had expected, but she'd still been my friend. _Ultimately, the quest shall fail._ We had failed. Gaius had beaten us to Pasiphaë and the sorceress had gone with him. Even though Emily had bought us one more chance to stop him, he'd still gotten away. _The son of Kronos shall destroy the veil._ That was the one part of my prophecy I still didn't understand. What was the veil? Why did Gaius want to destroy it? Had he already done it, or was that still to come? Regardless, the prophecy was still incomplete, at least until I figured out what that last line meant. It left me feeling uneasy. I was worried about whatever it was Gaius was planning.

Next, there was Thalia herself. She'd given her life for me. In the hours since the funeral ended, I'd felt really sad about it a few times, which was weird, since I thought I was past that part. Yet my determination to see her avenged had not abided. I was going to destroy the demititans if it was the last thing I did. But I had to be smart about it. My grandmother had told me two years ago that my fatal flaw impulsiveness. And while I was prepared to die to take the demititans down, if I died too soon, then that wouldn't do any good. I couldn't be rash.

Still, I figured I could do more with anger than I could with my other main feeling: guilt. I felt nearly crushing amounts of guilt about Thalia's death. And despite the fact that I was trying my best to ignore it, or to reason my way out of feeling guilty, I couldn't. I was guilty because Thalia had given her life to save mine. It was my fault she'd died. If I had just cut my losses and not tried to chase after Gaius when he was first getting away, I never would have fought Drake, and Thalia would never had died. But that wasn't all. I was also... well, _relieved._ I was relieved that it wasn't Jocelyn or Theo or Matt or Emily that died. What kind of person did that make me? I shook off the thought. _Anger at the demititans_ , I reminded myself. _Focus on that._

The Hunters had left right after dinner. Celia had, in fact, become their permanent lieutenant. She'd promised me that they would continue doing as much as possible to help with the war against Gaius. I'd seen the same sort of fire in her eyes that I'd seen in my own in the mirror the last couple days. She was just as driven to destroy the demititans as I was, perhaps more so.

And then there was Augustus. He hadn't shown up to dinner. A few of the Aphrodite campers that I knew he was friendly with had given me icy looks the whole time, which meant word of our breakup was already spreading like wildfire. I still felt terrible about breaking up with him. I wanted to explain why to him, but I wanted to do that in person, and I couldn't do that if he refused to see me. Granted, I had just broken up with him earlier in the day, and maybe in a few days he might simmer down a little. But for now, I felt awful.

"Thought we'd find you down here."

I started, turning. Walking across the beach towards me were Theo and Jocelyn. They sat down on either side of me and looked out over the Sound with me in silence. I looked over at each of them, and my heart swelled. My two best friends were still here. And despite my guilt, that was something I could hang onto. I'd lost Thalia, and I'd broken up with Augustus. The future was full of questions and danger. The war was only going to intensify from here. But here were my two friends, who'd been with me for my first quest, and were now by side following my third.

"Guys, thank you," I said.

"What for?" Theo asked.

"For being my friends," I said. "I… Well, the last year, I've been trying to prove to myself and others that I can do everything on my own. But just because I can't do everything doesn't mean I'm weak. And you two… you've always been there for me. And with everything being so unstable right now, well, I need that more than ever."

"Well you know, being your friend has been real difficult," Jocelyn said sarcastically. "I mean, you're freaking annoying. I don't know how we put up with you."

I rolled my eyes, but I laughed. "Gee, Joce. I'm over here trying to be all serious and stuff and here you come in ruining the moment. I take back what I said about thanking you. I'm only thankful to have Theo now."

"Yay, I win!" Theo cheered.

All three of us burst out laughing, and we didn't stop for a long time. There hadn't been a lot to laugh about recently, so once we got started, it was hard to stop. Finally, we laughed ourselves back into silence and continued to stare at the ocean. For a moment, my thoughts were as tranquil as the ocean. But then my thoughts about the war, about Thalia, about my prophecy, about Augustus, and everything else came back in full force. I slouched slightly under the weight of it all.

"Hey, everything's gonna be fine," Jocelyn said. "We're going to win this."

"How can you be sure?" I asked. "Gaius has been several steps ahead of us from the very beginning. We're not acting – we're reacting to everything he's doing. How can we possibly beat him if we can't even catch up."

"Then we've gotta catch up," Jocelyn said.

I scoffed. "And how exactly are we supposed to do that?"

Jocelyn smirked. "I'm glad you ask. We're going to have to capture one of his council members, someone who knows all of Gaius's plans."

Theo looked around me over at her. "That's nuts, Joce."

"I agree," I said. "We've been trying to capture a demititan – any demititan – for a while, and we haven't been successful. How are we supposed to capture one of the council members?"

"So far, trying to capture a demititan has just been part of the larger plan," Jocelyn said. "If we focus our efforts on catching one in particular, I'm sure we can make it happen. And the council has a weak link."

I frowned. "And who would that be?"

"Marcus," Jocelyn said. "He's no fighter, not even the magical kind like Caesaria and Andromeda. If we capture Marcus, that could give us exactly the edge we need."

I gasped. Of course. That was how we'd win this war. It wouldn't be easy, but Jocelyn was right. If we concentrated our efforts, we could take Marcus captive. And if we could do _that_ , we'd know everything Gaius was planning. The war was far from over. It was only just started.

* * *

 **AN: And thus ends Elizabeth Jackson and the Magician's Maze. I hope you guys enjoyed the journey as much as I did. As always, I will be posting an Author's Note soon letting you know when you can expect book 4 as well as things to look out for in the time between books. I should be posting that early next week, either Monday or Tuesday, so keep your eyes open for that. But for now, farewell. And remember, as always, don't forget to be awesome.**


	23. Author's Note: Book 4 Info

**Author's Note: Book 4 Teasers and Interim between Books**

 **Hey guys! I'm here again with an update for you. Here's what you can expect to see: responses to reviews on the last chapter, some teaser info for book 4, a release date for book 4, and what you can expect to see from me in the interim between books.**

 **But before I get into any of that, I want to say a huge thank you to everyone who's ever read, reviewed, followed, favorited, or any combination of those things. I cannot tell you guys how blown away I am by the support I've gotten over the course of this series, especially this book, which is the first to break 100 reviews. I am not exaggerating when I say that I would not have made it this far without your support. I know my Elizabeth Jackson series doesn't have the largest fan base on here, but it definitely has one of the most interactive, loyal, and just all around awesome fan bases. Without your support, I definitely wouldn't have made it all the way through the third story. So thank you all so much from the bottom of my heart.**

 **Alright, before we go any further, it is my pleasure to, as always, respond to reviews I got on the last chapter. First, from RockRoy: "Can't wait to read book 4, your series of books is definitely as good as Uncle Rick's. :) Hope you start writing soon."  
A: Wow, that is high praise! Thank you so much for the compliment. As for book 4, I can verify that I have already fully outlined book 4 and will begin properly writing it very soon!**

 **From EllaAnnieGrace: "Wow oh wow oh wow! This book sure was an emotinal rollercoaster!"  
A: That was my goal! I'm sorry I had to put you through all that, but just think how great the emotional payoff will be at the end of the series!**

 **From the-only-soldier-left: "But... but, Gus! And Thalia! And -and - I just, I can't! *breaks down sobbing*"  
** **A: I know. I'm sorry! But again, the emotional payoff will be worth it!**

 **From cghe: "Hey! What's up with that veil?"  
A: You'll find out next book. Sorry to make you wait, haha.**

 **Another from cghe: "Also, by the way, Percy also managed to deflect a bullet at (practically) point blank range, in the titan's curse. He described it as something like, he couldn't see the bullet but could feel the path of the bullet, like the currents in the ocean? Or maybe time slowed down or something."  
** **A:Yeah, I remember that actually. Demigods are good at that sort of thing, so demititans should be as well.**

 **One last on from cghe: "Marcus, grandson of bob. I wonder how that will pan out. Awesome story! Can't wait for the next one!"  
** **A: I can't wait to share the next one with you guys either! (And you'll see how the Marcus thing pans out in book 4, too).**

 **Two more from EllaAnnieGrace. First: "Have you listened to Soldatino or Nico's Lullaby? If you haven't you need to, pronto."  
A: I haven't. I'll have to check it out.**

 **Second: "Have you heard of a Youtube channel called SuperCarlinBrothers? It's inspired by the Vlog Brothers, and SuperCarlinBrothers is my favourite Youtube channel."  
A: Once again, I haven't, but I'll definitely have to check them out. I love the Vlogbrothers, so I imagine I'll enjoy the SuperCarlinBrothers as well.**

 **And lastly, a few questions/comments from an unidentified guest. First: "in the Titan's curse, there were 5 members of the quest just like Elizabeth's quest had 5 people and they are both the third book, huh...huh"  
A: Yes indeed. That was very intentional. I try to make these books mirror the originals in many ways. Obviously not perfectly, but I do try to make some obvious (and some more subtle) parallels, just like the original books mirror Greek myths.**

 **Second: "in the first book you said the Matt was a spitting image of Percy, minus the blond hair. So when Tantulas was with Matt and asked Elizabeth if she was related to Percy, couldn't he tell if Matt looked a lot like Percy?"  
A: Good catch! In my experience, names stay with you longer than faces. It's been a **_**very**_ **long time since Tantalus has seen Percy, so he probably didn't remember what Percy looked like. He did remember the name though, because, as I said, in my experience names stay with you longer than faces, especially when a name is attached to a particularly strong emotion – in Tantalus's case, hatred for Percy Jackson.**

 **Third: "Look I know Elizabeth wants to act tough, but acting cold to her parents is kind've over extreme even for her. I think she should be comforting them, like Matt. Ahhh, stupid Gaius."  
A: Elizabeth wasn't trying to be tough or cold or anything, she just legitimately felt like she'd be interfering with their ability to grieve if she was close to them. Flawed logic, but that's what she was thinking (and sorry that I didn't make that super clear). Also, everyone grieves differently, and that was part of how Elizabeth was doing it – even though she believed she was done grieving.**

 **Lastly: "All right for the new upcoming book, can Sierra be part of a quest now. please! Alright, as I said before, love the book and I can't wait until next one. Peace out."  
** **A: Sierra will have the largest role she's yet had in a book, I'll tell you that much. But any more would be a spoiler. Also, I'm glad you enjoyed the book! I'm excited to share the next one with you!**

 **Now, as I have done with each of my previous books, it's time for some hints at what you can expect from book 4!**

 **1\. The book will drop us right in the middle of a mission that Elizabeth is on**

 **2\. We'll finally find out what that veil line from the prophecy in this book means**

 **3\. Elizabeth will meet an actual Titan (Atlas doesn't count, she only saw him from a distance)**

 **4\. Hannah, the younger of the two Zhang girls, will finally make an appearance and will go to Camp Half-Blood**

 **5\. All seven of the Seven will appear, as well as Calypso**

 **6\. Nico will be back once again**

 **7\. There will be new developments in several characters' love lives**

 **8\. Elizabeth will find out who replaced Marina on Gaius's council**

 **9\. Kymompoleia's daughter, Yolanda, will do something important**

 **10\. The title of the book will be "Elizabeth Jackson and the Veil's Destruction"**

 **11\. Chapter 1 will go live on Tuesday, June 14** **th**

 **That's all I can give you about Book 4 for now. I'm sorry about the hiatus. Once again, I'm taking a kinda long one for two reasons: 1) so I can have time to really get ahead and crank out high quality stuff and 2) end of the school year shenanigans. But never fear! There are a few things you can expect between now and Book 4's release.**

 **1\. On Tuesday, May 10** **th** **, I will be posting a "character sheet" in my Elizabeth Jackson One-Shots collection explaining what happened with all the major characters between BOO and the start of my Elizabeth Jackson series.**

 **Quick side note: Are you guys enjoying the first book in the Trials of Apollo series? I've already read the whole thing. I thoroughly enjoyed it, but it does create issues with my attempts at maintaining continuity. So what happens in my series is only going to follow continuity up through the end of the Heroes of Olympus series. A little annoying for me, since I've tried so hard to maintain continuity, but that's the way the cookie crumbles.**

 **2\. On June 9** **th** **, the one year anniversary of the first book (WOW!) you can expect to see a one-shot in Elizabeth Jackson One-Shots from before the first book.**

 **3\. Also, at some unidentified point between now and book 4's release, I will be posting another Elizabeth Jackson One-Shot about Theo. So keep your eyes peeled for that one!**

 **4\. Again, at some point between now and book 4's release, I will be posting a deleted scene from this book's final chapter in Elizabeth Jackson One-Shots. I ended up cutting it because I thought I could convey the stuff I did in that scene elsewhere and the last chapter was already getting pretty long. Also, time constraints were at play with my decision to cut this particular scene. BUT I'm still going to release the scene at some point (probably sooner rather than later) so that you guys can see it.**

 **5\. And finally, just as I did last time, I will be doing a poll to see which non-Elizabeth OC of mine will get their own one-shot in Elizabeth Jackson One-Shots. The poll will be open until June 3** **rd** **and the winner will get their own one-shot on June 10** **th** **. Right now I'm only doing characters that don't already have their own one-shot yet. That excludes Jocelyn and Augustus and will exclude Theo very soon. That being said, your options are: Matt, Sierra, Katherine, Jake, Emily, Amy, Dan, and Helen. So go cast your votes!**

 **That's all I'll be getting up to between now and Book 4's release, so keep your eyes peeled for Elizabeth Jackson One-Shot updates. I won't be doing any major projects between now and Book 4 so that I can really focus my attention on Book 4. Anyway, I hope these tidbits of info have you excited for the next book and remember to cast your vote for the last one-shot. Once again, thank you guys so much for your continued and constant support, and I will see you guys soon. Don't Forget To Be Awesome!**


	24. Book 4 Author's Note: One Day Delay

**AN: Hey guys, it's me. I'm sorry to say that I will not be able to upload the first chapter of Elizabeth Jackson and the Veil's Destruction tonight. A bunch of stuff happened irl and I just won't be able to post today. I WILL be able to upload the first chapter tomorrow. I'm really sorry for the brief delay, but I hope you're excited for the new book anyway!**


	25. Book 4 is Live

**AN: Hey guys! I just posted book 4! So yeah. Go check that out. I hope you enjoy!**


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